Sustainability in Energy and Buildings: Results of the Second International Conference on Sustainability in Energy and Buildings (SEB’10) [1 ed.] 3642173861, 9783642173868

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Robert J. Howlett, Lakhmi C. Jain, and Shaun H. Lee (Eds.) Sustainability in Energy and Buildings

Smart Innovation, Systems and Technologies 7 Editors-in-Chief Prof. Robert J. Howlett KES International PO Box 2115 Shoreham-by-sea BN43 9AF UK E-mail: [email protected]

Prof. Lakhmi C. Jain School of Electrical and Information Engineering University of South Australia Adelaide, Mawson Lakes Campus South Australia SA 5095 Australia E-mail: [email protected]

Further volumes of this series can be found on our homepage: springer.com Vol. 1. Toyoaki Nishida, Lakhmi C. Jain, and Colette Faucher (Eds.) Modeling Machine Emotions for Realizing Intelligence, 2010 ISBN 978-3-642-12603-1 Vol. 2. George A. Tsihrintzis, Maria Virvou, and Lakhmi C. Jain (Eds.) Multimedia Services in Intelligent Environments – Software Development Challenges and Solutions, 2010 ISBN 978-3-642-13354-1 Vol. 3. George A. Tsihrintzis and Lakhmi C. Jain (Eds.) Multimedia Services in Intelligent Environments – Integrated Systems, 2010 ISBN 978-3-642-13395-4 Vol. 4. Gloria Phillips-Wren, Lakhmi C. Jain, Kazumi Nakamatsu, and Robert J. Howlett (Eds.) Advances in Intelligent Decision Technologies – Proceedings of the Second KES International Symposium IDT 2010, 2010 ISBN 978-3-642-14615-2 Vol. 5. Robert J. Howlett (Ed.) Innovation through Knowledge Transfer, 2010 ISBN 978-3-642-14593-3 Vol. 6. George A. Tsihrintzis, Ernesto Damiani, Maria Virvou, Robert J. Howlett, and Lakhmi C. Jain (Eds.) Intelligent Interactive Multimedia Systems and Services, 2010 ISBN 978-3-642-14618-3 Vol. 7. Robert J. Howlett, Lakhmi C. Jain, and Shaun H. Lee (Eds.) Sustainability in Energy and Buildings, 2010 ISBN 978-3-642-17386-8

Robert J. Howlett, Lakhmi C. Jain, and Shaun H. Lee (Eds.)

Sustainability in Energy and Buildings Results of the Second International Conference on Sustainability in Energy and Buildings (SEB’10)

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Prof. Robert J. Howlett

Dr. Shaun H. Lee

KES International P.O. Box 2115, Shoreham-by-Sea, BN43 9AF, UK E-mail: [email protected]

KES International 2nd Floor, 145-157 St. John Street London, EC1V 4PY UK E-mail: [email protected]

Prof. Lakhmi C. Jain School of Electrical and Information Engineering, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Mawson Lakes Campus, South Australia SA 5095, Australia E-mail: [email protected]

ISBN 978-3-642-17386-8

e-ISBN 978-3-642-17387-5

DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-17387-5 Smart Innovation, Systems and Technologies

ISSN 2190-3018

c 2011 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg  This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilm or in any other way, and storage in data banks. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the German Copyright Law of September 9, 1965, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer. Violations are liable to prosecution under the German Copyright Law. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. Typesetting: Scientific Publishing Services Pvt. Ltd., Chennai, India. Printed on acid-free paper 987654321 springer.com

Foreword

KES International (KES) is a worldwide organization that provides a professional community and association for researchers, originally in the discipline of Knowledge Based and Intelligent Engineering Systems, but now extending into other related areas. Through this, KES provides its members with opportunities for publication and beneficial interaction. The focus of KES is research and technology transfer in the area of Intelligent Systems, i.e. computer-based software systems that operate in a manner analogous to the human brain, in order to perform advanced tasks. Recently KES has started to extend its area of interest to encompass the contribution that intelligent systems can make to sustainability and renewable energy, and also the knowledge transfer, innovation and enterprise agenda. Involving several thousand researchers, managers and engineers drawn from universities and companies world-wide, KES is in an excellent position to facilitate international research co-operation and generate synergy in the area of artificial intelligence applied to real-world ‘Smart’ systems and the underlying related theory. The KES annual conference covers a broad spectrum of intelligent systems topics and attracts several hundred delegates from a range of countries round the world. KES also organizes symposia on specific technical topics, for example, Agent and Multi Agent Systems, Intelligent Decision Technologies, Intelligent Interactive Multimedia Systems and Services, Sustainability in Energy and Buildings and Innovations through Knowledge Transfer. KES is responsible for two peer-reviewed journals, the International Journal of Knowledge based and Intelligent Engineering Systems, and Intelligent Decision Technologies: an International Journal. Published by Springer, ‘Smart Innovative Systems and Technologies’ is the KES flagship book series. The aim of the series is to make available a platform for the publication of books (in both hard copy and CRROM form) on all aspects of single and multi-disciplinary research involving smart innovative systems and technologies, in order to make the latest results available in a readily-accessible form. The series covers systems that employ knowledge and intelligence in a broad sense. Its focus is systems having embedded knowledge and intelligence, which may be applied to the solution of world industrial, economic and environmental problems and the knowledge-transfer methodologies employed to make this happen effectively. The combination of intelligent systems tools and a broad range of applications introduces a need for a synergy of scientific and technological disciplines.

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Foreword

Examples of applicable areas to be covered by the series include intelligent decision support, smart robotics and mechatronics, knowledge engineering, intelligent multi-media, intelligent product design, intelligent medical systems, smart industrial products, smart alternative energy systems, and underpinning areas such as smart systems theory and practice, knowledge transfer, innovation and enterprise. The series includes conference proceedings, edited collections, monographs, handbooks, reference books, and other relevant types of book in areas of science and technology where smart systems and technologies can offer innovative solutions. High quality is an essential feature for all book proposals accepted for the series. It is expected that editors of all accepted volumes take responsibility for ensuring that contributions are subjected to an appropriate level of reviewing process and adhere to KES quality principles.

Professor Robert J. Howlett Executive Chair, KES International Visiting Professor, Enterprise: Bournemouth University United Kingdom

Preface

Welcome to the proceedings of the Second International Conference on Sustainability in Energy and Buildings, SEB’10, held in the City of Brighton and Hove in the United Kingdom. Organized by the KES International organization, SEB'10 formed a welcome opportunity for researchers in subjects related to sustainability, renewable energy technology, and applications in the built environment to mix with other scientists, industrialists and stakeholders in the field. SEB 2010 attracted papers on a range of renewable energy and sustainability related topics and in addition the conference explored two innovative themes:•

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The application of intelligent sensing, control, optimization and modeling techniques to sustainability and The technology of sustainable buildings.

These techniques could ultimately be applied to the intelligent building SEB 2010, the second conference in the SEB series, attracted over 100 submissions from around the world. These were subjected to a two-stage blind peerreview process. With the objective of producing a high quality conference, fewer than 30 of these were selected for presentation at the conference and publication in the proceedings. The papers for presentation were grouped into five themes: Building Sustainability, Sustainable Power Generation, Sustainable Energy Policy and Strategy, Energy Monitoring and Management and Solar Energy Technology. Two prominent research professors gave interesting and informative keynote talks. Professor Andrew Miller from the Centre for Sustainability of the Built Environment at the University of Brighton, UK, gave a talk entitled “Building Energy Efficiency: - Towards Energy Sustainability”. Professor Roger Morgan from the School of Engineering at Liverpool John Moores University, UK, spoke on the “Displacement of Conventional Domestic Energy Demands by 'Green' Electricity”. The conference papers are now included in these proceedings, published post conference by Springer-Verlag in the new KES-Springer Smart Innovations, Systems and Technologies book series. Thanks are due to the very many people who have given their time and goodwill freely to make the SEB’10 a success. We would like to thank the Deputy Mayor of Brighton and Hove, Councillor Garry Peltzer Dunn for opening the conference. We would like to thank the members of the International Programme

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Committee who were essential in providing their reviews of the conference papers, ensuring appropriate quality. We thank the high-profile keynote speakers for providing interesting talks to inform delegates and provoke discussion. Important contributors to SEB’10 were made by the authors, presenters and delegates without whom the conference could not have taken place, so we offer them our thanks. The KES Secretariat staff worked hard to bring the conference to a high level of organization, and we thank them. Finally we thank the staff of the Holiday Inn, where the conference was held, and the people of Brighton and Hove for welcoming the event. I hope that you will find the SEB’10 proceedings an interesting, informative and useful collection, of papers. I hope to see you at a future KES event.

Professor Robert J. Howlett Bournemouth University, UK Professor Lakhmi. C. Jain University of South Australia, Australia Mr Shaun H. Lee University of Brighton, UK Editors

Organization

Conference and Executive Chair Professor Robert J. Howlett Executive Chair, KES International & Bournemouth University, United Kingdom

Chair (Knowledge Based and Intelligent Systems) Professor Lakhmi C. Jain University of South Australia

Chair (Renewable Energy) Professor Ali Sayigh Chairman of World Renewable Energy Congress Director General of WREN

Chair (Electricity Generation and Distribution) Professor Roger Morgan Liverpool John Moores University, United Kingdom

Chair (Intelligent Buildings) Professor In-Young Ko Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology South Korea

Chair (Built Environment) Professor Andrew Miller Centre for Sustainability in the Built Environment University of Brighton, United Kingdom

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Chair (China Liaison) Professor Hong Jin Director of Green Building Research Institute Director of Architectural Technology Department Harbin Institute of Technology, China

Local Arrangements Chair Mr Shaun Lee Centre for Smart Systems University of Brighton, United Kingdom

KES International The organisation and operation of SEB'10 is the responsibility of the KES International organisation

Executive Chair Prof Robert J. Howlett KES International & Bournemouth University, UK

Founder Professor Lakhmi Jain University of South Australia, Australia

International Program Committee Name Prof. Vivek Agarwal Prof. Abdel Aitouche Prof. Aziz Naamane Prof. Frede Blaabjerg Prof. Antonio F. Caballero Dr George Chen Prof. Derek J Croome Luis A Fajardo-Ruano Prof. Ahmed Hajjaji

Affiliation Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, India Haute Etudes Ingenieurs Grande Ecole, Lille, France Laboratoire des Sciences del’Information et des Systèmes, Marseilles, France Aalborg University Inst. Of Energy Technology, Denmark University of Castilla La Mancha, Spain Heriot-Watt University, UK University of Reading, UK Universidad Michoacana of San Nicolás of Hidalgo, Mexico University of Picardie, Jules Verne, France

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Prof. Robert J. Howlett Prof. Hong Jin Prof. Dong Hwa Kim Prof. in-Young Ko

KES International / Bournemouth University, UK Harbin Institute of Technology, China Hanbat University, South Korea Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Korea Dr Sumathy Krishnan North Dakota State University, USA Prof. Søren Linderoth Technical University of Denmark Prof. Andrew Miller University of Brighton, UK Prof. Roger Morgan Liverpool John Moores University, UK Prof. Saffa Riffat University of Nottingham, UK Dr Cesar Sanin University of Newcastle, Australia Prof. Ali Sayigh World Renewable Energy Congress / Network Dr Marina Sokolova University of Castilla-La Mancha Albacete, Spain Prof. Ed Szczerbicki University of Newcastle, Australia Prof. Alan Turner University of Sussex, UK Dr Humberto Varum University of Aveiro, Portugal Prof. Mummadi Veerachary Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, India Dr Simon Walters University of Brighton, UK

Keynote Lectures Professor Andrew Miller Centre for Sustainability of the Built Environment University of Brighton, UK

Building Energy Efficiency: Towards Energy Sustainability Abstract. Throughout the developed world the energy required for constructing, operating and maintaining our buildings represents a major proportion of the prime energy consumed and of greenhouse gases emitted to the atmosphere. Reduction in demand is therefore key to ensuring sustainability of energy supply, making existing buildings more efficient and constructing new buildings with optimum energy demands. It is also necessary to take a whole life cycle approach to the evaluation of energy consumption considering the embodied energy of the building materials and the demolition and recycling of the materials at the end of the useful life of the building. This paper takes a whole life cycle approach to the analysis of energy efficiency in buildings. It considers the principles of design for energy efficient buildings and focus on the issues associated with improving efficiency in existing buildings and their adaptability for utilizing renewable energy. Biography. Prof Andrew Miller is a member of the School of Environment and Technology at the University of Brighton and the Head of the Centre for Sustainability in the Built Environment.

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Professor Roger Morgan School of Engineering Liverpool John Moores University, UK

Displacement of Conventional Domestic Energy Demands by 'Green' Electricity Abstract. With an increasing proportion of electricity coming from renewable and from other low-carbon-dioxide sources, probably including nuclear in the future, it becomes attractive to look for a displacement of existing energy-consuming activities, both in the home and for activities associated with the home, away from fossil fuel burning appliances and towards electricity. However, this can be justified only if the increased electrical load is genuinely met from low-CO2 sources. In practice, this probably means using as large a proportion as possible of the 'new' loads at night, using base-load generation. This would make the best possible use of generation capacity, especially if the proportion of nuclear and renewable generation is increased. It would also improve the utilisation of the transmission and distribution infrastructure, which, like the generation capacity, is not fully utilised at night. A good example is private electric vehicles, which displace the use of petrol and diesel, which are still mostly fossil-fuel based despite the availability of biodiesel and other bio-fuels. Private cars and bikes are typically kept at home in the evening, and need to be charged at home overnight. This has implications for the suburban electricity distribution network. Currently, most residential areas in the UK are cabled on the assumption of a 2kW (or even a 1kW) average demand. Any major increase in residential load, even at night, might involve reinforcement of the suburban distribution network, including both the substations and the underground cables. Another good example is domestic space and water heating, which in much of the UK is dominated by natural gas. Replacing some or most of this demand by electricity would displace natural gas, which is not only fossil fuel based but also increasingly an import. This may mean a new lease of life for electric thermal storage heating. With the widespread use of hydronic (wet) heating systems in this country, any new thermal storage proposals need to be compatible with conventional pipes and radiators. This can be achieved not only with water storage, but also with a number of other thermal storage substances. But again, any increase in domestic load, even at night, might necessitate reinforcement of the suburban distribution network. Are we prepared for the cost and disruption this would cause? Or can we use demand-side management to regulate the demand of new loads so as to make more effective use of the existing capacity? This paper uses experimental evidence based on case studies, together with estimates based on existing information, to calculate the magnitude of extra electricity demand which might result from changing to electricity and away from the direct use of fossil fuel for domestic demands. An attempt will be made to include reductions in demand resulting from improved efficiencies and conservation

Organization

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measures. The resulting figures will be used to estimate how much demand could be met without increasing generation capacity or reinforcing the transmission and distribution infrastructure, and what level of reinforcement might be needed if the whole of the demand is to be met by electricity. Biography. Roger Morgan is an Emeritus Professor at Liverpool John Moores University, an honorary post which he has held since retiring from the Professorship of Electrical and Electronic Engineering in 2008. He has also held academic posts at the University of Brighton and the University of Ulster. His first job was with the Central Electricity Generating Board, where he was a research officer in nuclear power generation. After graduating from Cambridge University in 1964, his research career began with a PhD in materials science, but since the early 1970s has concentrated on energy efficiency and the effective use of natural energy sources. He is the author or co-author of over 150 papers and reports, and eight books. Since retiring, he has become a student again; he is enrolled in the External Degree through the medium of Welsh at Aberystwyth University. His other leisure interests include sea-going sailing, climbing mountains, and playing the mandolin in a folk-dancing band.

Contents

Session A: Building Sustainability Achieving Energy Efficiency in Office Building . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rusdy Hartungi, Liben Jiang

1

Energy Analysis of Ventilated Roof . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F. Patania, A. Gagliano, F. Nocera, A. Ferlito, A. Galesi

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An Analytic Hierarchy Process Model for Assessing Occupants’ Adaptations to Thermal Comfort in Offices . . . . . . Jing Liu, Runming Yao, Rachel McCloy

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Advantages of Using Raw Materials in Ancient and Recent Buildings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A. Murta, H. Varum, J. Pinto

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Energy Saving Technologies for Conventional Dwellings – A ‘Whole House’ Concept . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pat Addy, Dave Webb

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Modifying Courtyard Wall Geometries to Optimize the Daylight Performance of the Courtyard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ahmed A. Freewan

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Research on the Current Condition of Rural Housing and Strategy of Low-Consumption in Northern China . . . . . . . . . . . . Wei Zhao, Hong Jin

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The Design Study of Energy-Saving Rural House in Rural Areas in Heilongjiang Province, China . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Xin-yu Zhang, Hong Jin

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Numerical and Experimental Study of the Natural Convection in a Tall Closed Cavity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jes´ us Benito P´erez Valenzuela, Armando Pi˜ na Ortiz, Jes´ us Fernando Hinojosa Palafox, Rafael E. Cabanillas L´ opez Numerical Study of Heat Transfer by Free and Forced Convection in a Ventilated Cavity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Norma Alejandra Rodr´ıguez Mu˜ noz, Jes´ us Fernando Hinojosa Palafox, Karl Kohlhof

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Session B: Sustainable Power Generation Model Predictive Control of Wind Energy Storage System for Frequency Regulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 Muhammad Khalid, Andrey V. Savkin Development of a Simulation Tool to Predict Urban Wind Potential . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 Christina Beller Direction Dependent Power Curves for Wind Power Prediction: A Case Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 Muhammad Khalid, Andrey V. Savkin Tools and Techniques for Intelligent Characterization of Fuels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 S.D. Walters, C. Crua Use of Super-Capacitor to Enhance Charging Performance of Stand-Alone Solar PV System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 B.J. Huang, P.C. Hsu, P.Y. Ho Displacement of Conventional Domestic Energy Demands by Electricity: Implications for the Distribution Network . . . . 149 Roger Morgan Experimental Investigation of CI Engine Operated Micro-Trigeneration System Fuelled with Karanj Methyl Ester-Diesel Blend . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 Dilip Sharma, Kamal Kishore Khatri, S.L. Soni, Deepak Tanwar

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Session C: Sustainable Energy Policy and Strategy Renewable Energies in the EU Energy Policy: Model of Territorial Distribution of Efforts to Meet the Strategic Goal for 2020 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169 A. Tol´ on-Becerra, X. Lastra-Bravo, F. Bienvenido-B´ arcena Future-Proofed Design for Sustainable Communities . . . . . . . . . 179 Maria-Christina Georgiadou, Theophilus Hacking Enabling Low Carbon Living in New Housing Developments – A Triple Bottom Line Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189 Steffie Broer, Helena Titheridge Aspects of Life Cycle Investing for Sustainable Refurbishments in Australia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201 Eckhart Hertzsch, Chris Heywood, Mirek Piechowski, Adrian Rowe Advent of Climate Change and Resultant Energy Related Obsolescence in the Built Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211 T.E. Butt, B.D. Giddings, J.C. Cooper, B.B.N. Umeadi, K.G. Jones Environmental Attitudes and Energy Initiatives within the Greek Hotel Sector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225 Eva Maleviti, Yacob Mulugetta, Walter Wehrmeyer

Session D: Energy Monitoring and Management The EcoSense Project: An Intelligent Energy Management System with a Wireless Sensor and Actor Network . . . . . . . . . . 237 Pedro D´ıaz, Teresa Olivares, Ra´ ul Galindo, Antonio Ortiz, Fernando Royo, Tom´ as Clemente The Use of Intelligent Systems for Monitoring Energy Use and Occupancy in Existing Homes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247 Catalina Spataru, Mark Gillott Assessing the Energy Performance of Office Buildings . . . . . . . 257 Chr. Konstantinidou, A. Dimoudi, P. Kosmopoulos

Session E: Solar Energy Technology Optimisation of Integrated Low-Carbon Energy Strategies: A Case Study for ‘Zero Carbon’ Social Housing in the UK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265 Li Mei, P.N. Rowley

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Characterisation of a Line-Axis Solar Thermal Collector for Building Fa¸ cade Integration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277 M. Ramirez-Stefanou, T. Mallick, M. Smyth, J.D. Mondol, A. Zacharopoulos, T.J. Hyde Proposed Model for Design of Photovoltaic Mounted Steep Roof Systems and Case Study: Istanbul, Turkey . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289 A. Mutlu, A.N. Turkeri Author Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299

Achieving Energy Efficiency in Office Building Rusdy Hartungi and Liben Jiang School of Built and Natural Environment University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) Preston PR1 2HE, Tel.: +44-(0)1772 893210; Fax: +44-(0)1772 892916 e-mail: [email protected]

Abstract. This paper is to present a case of a newly built office building in the UK and to show how the energy efficiency technology in building might contribute to the energy conservation and therefore in full compliance with Part L building regulation. A large array of solutions are used which include the use of ventilation system with good high heat recovery system, limiting the heat loss and gain through the fabric by enhancing levels of insulation of building fabric to achieve lower u-values, limiting the heat loss and gain through the fabric of the building by improving air tightness to minimise any uncontrolled air leakage, provision of space heating and hot water systems which are energy efficient, improve daylight levels and reduce artificial lighting energy, provision of lighting control systems with appropriate lamps so that energy can be used efficiently improve control and monitoring of mechanical heating and ventilation systems. The office building in case study has shown the compliance with the building regulation and thus conserves the energy. Energy conservation and the compliance with building regulation are achieved through early incorporation into the building design. Keywords: Energy Conservation, Sustainability, Building Services, Part L Building Regulation.

1 Background Building energy use constitutes a significant proportion of total world energy consumption. In Europe for instance, 40-45% of the total energy use are consumed by the buildings [2.5.7. 8]. This striking figure of energy consumption should not astonish anyone as there is large number of mechanical and electrical equipments as part of M/E systems in building which is intended for heating, ventilation, air-conditioning and lighting. Due to the more intensive use of the M&E systems in building, the energy demand for building is continuously growing. From the environmental point of view, it has been estimated that 4.5 out of 6 billion tonnes of industrialized countries carbon emission, half of it is due to buildings. Building more energy efficient structures may reduce carbon emissions by 60% or more, which translates to 1.35 billion tones of carbon, building more R.J. Howlett, L.C. Jain, & S.H. Lee (Eds.): Sustainability in Energy and Buildings, SIST 7, pp. 1–13. springerlink.com © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2011

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energy efficient structures will conserve conventional energy [1, 3, 9]. Because of the potential impact for significant savings in energy consumption and reduction of environmental burden, building energy conservation measures have received a fair amount of attention all over the world in the last few years [8]. The growing demand of building energy use has brought many concerns to the level that a stern measure has to be taken. In the UK, the government has introduced a number of legislations to achieve energy conscious buildings, promote energy conservation and sustainability in the built environment. The Building Regulations Approved Document Part L, the Conservation of fuel and power has been in force since 6th April 2006. The intention is to reduce the substantial contribution of the built environment to energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions.

2 Aims The aim of this paper is to present a case of a newly built office building in England and to show how the technology in energy efficiency in building might contribute to the energy conservation and therefore in full compliance with Part L building regulation. This paper reviews how an office building can be designed to utilise energy efficiently and therefore conserve the energy.

3 Methodology A case study which is showing the striking feature of energy efficiency is presented. The case is then analysed and evaluated against the compliance with Part L building regulation. Various data sources for analysis used and are mainly coming from – – – –

The project concept design document and reports The projects tender document documentation. Data from utility company, statistics in the UK Data from trusted sites/organizations, (e.g. CIBSE, BRE, BSRIA)

The building in case is taken directly from one of the author projects when he was working as a lead building services engineer. The grounds for the selection and analysing this case is based on the fact that there are quite a few good practices that could be adopt to improve the building energy performance and energy conservation.

4 Building Regulation Part L and Energy Conservation in Brief Building regulations in the UK are regulation that seeks to ensure that the policies set out in the relevant legislation are carried out. Therefore, building regulations

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approval is required for building works in the UK. Building Regulations Part L in the UK imposes the requirement on building work which will ensure that a reasonable provision to be made for the conservation of fuel and power in buildings. It is part of the UK government strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to address global warming. It splits into four documents: – – – –

L1A New dwellings L1B Existing Dwellings L2A New Buildings other than Dwellings L2B Existing Buildings other than dwellings

5 Brief Description of the Project in Case As shown the figure 1 and 2 below, the building project in case is a newly built two stories open-plan office. Open plan offices are designed to allow more work spaces and place more occupants. It is also anticipated that the layout of the office needs to be made more adaptable to future change. When it is required the chance need to be quick and with minimum effort. But more importantly, open space offices are also part of the energy conservation strategy as only one centralized area is being heated, or cooled, and lighted. The design of the new office is based on the aspiration for high quality architectural design, visual transparency from inside to out, and a profile in keeping with the surrounding landscape.

Fig. 1. The Building Project in Case area two stories office

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Fig. 2. Example Layout drawing of the building

The following table presents an internal design condition that is used in this office. It is from various guides and codes of practice for naturally ventilated offices.

Building type Natural office

Ventilated

Air Temperature

min. air supply rate (l/s/person)

Maintained Illuminance (Lux)

Daylight Factor

23 – 27 °C

8

300- 500

2 - 5%

Noise Rating (NR) 30 - 35

Internal design criteria are used as such in an endeavour to minimise energy consumption for the internal design criteria, but at the same times meet the CIBSE recommendations for a naturally ventilated building.

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The energy profile of this office building is shown in the figure below.

Fig. 3. Offices Electric Load Profile

6 Analysis and Results 6.1 Energy Meters and Sub-metering Energy meter might be useful instruments for energy conservation awareness as it will provide the building operators and occupier’s sufficient information for monitoring the energy consumption. It provides building operators the clear figure of how much energy is being used, and how energy consumption differs across zones in the building, the action to reduce the usage and employ more energy efficient practices will more likely to happen. Information gathered from meters might also be used for energy certification and benchmarking. Part L building regulation requires that reasonable provision would be to enable at least 90% of the estimated annual energy consumption of each fuel to be accounted for. Regarding the energy meter and sub-meter, provision of meters is installed in the incoming services which include individual meters to directly measure total electricity, gas, oil and LPG consumed within the building. Additional submetering is provided for final electrical distribution boards, motor control centres providing power to fans and pumps, boiler installations. Installing meter and sub-meter in this project might provide potential benefit to energy conservation. However, this potential could only be turned into real benefit in case the awareness of the potential energy saving is turned into actions. 6.2 Electrical System Various methods in electrical services can be used to conserve energy such as: Demand Side Management, PF (Power Factor) Management. The demand side

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management is implemented through the use of energy efficient equipments such as energy efficient luminaries. The power factor (PF) is used to improve the power factor of electrical installation to achieve a power factor of at least 0.95. This is ensured through the installation of Intelligent Power Factor Controller. 6.3 Ventilation Strategy With the advent of the concepts of efficient energy use focus has shifted towards buildings becoming more air tight and having lower levels of ventilation. This is due to the fact that as buildings become better insulated and conduction heat loss is reduced the proportion of heating and air conditioning load due to ventilation has increased and may offer the largest scope for reducing energy demand. It has also been shown that increased levels of ventilation improve performance of occupants. This office building is equipped with both natural and mechanical ventilation as shown on the above figure. Natural cross ventilation during periods of suitable ambient conditions is provided via opening windows and trickle vents. When the ambient conditions are not suitable to enhance the thermal comfort levels of the internal occupied zones, a mechanical ventilation system comprising of two supplies and extract of dedicated air handling units located adjacent the external stair cores will discharge supply air to the office via a pressurised floor void and displacement grilles. The air handling units provide a constant 19oC air supply. The air handling unit (AHU) is also provided with heat recovery to reclaim energy for the exhausted air. The WC areas are mechanically ventilated via extract ductwork system with branches serving each toilet cubicle. Each toilet core is provided with a twin fan extract unit which will be located at high level. The system will operate when the toilet is occupied this being sensed by PIR detectors complete with variable run-on timer facility.

Fig. 4A. Natural Ventilation Environmental Strategy

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Fig. 4B. Mechanical Ventilation Energy Conservation Strategy

Tempered supply air is introduced to the office spaces via the floor void which will serve as a supply air plenum integrated with the flooring system. Air will then be discharged into the office area through floor mounted swirl diffusers. This air will then mixed with air within the office space to maintain the required conditions. Floor grilles are made available and distributed across the two office floors. The system will be fully flexible with the ability to relocate the floor tiles as required whilst maintaining the integrity of the floor plenum. Return air is drawn back into the system through return air ductwork at high level of each office floor via return air grilles. 6.4 Lighting and Daylighting The lighting in this office project which incorporates the daylighting is considered early in the design stage; because it is at this stage the major decisions affecting the daylighting is made and any significant changes to the daylighting in the later stage are very much more difficult and costly. Many buildings have good natural light and ventilation, but may suffer related problems of glare, excess solar gain, heat loss and draughts. This building has been designed as such that optimise between getting a good natural light but at the same time reducing glare, excess solar gain effect.

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6.4.1 Daylighting Daylight makes an important contribution to the light levels and atmosphere of an interior and may provide sufficient illumination for substantial periods in some offices, avoiding the need to use the electric lighting. The daylighting aspects of a building are determined primarily by the form of the building and its windows, factors fixed at the design stage. Through the careful designed of building envelopes, the daylighting shows that this building has relatively good daylight factor. This indicates that the electrical lighting load within the thermal model can be reduced assuming that artificial lighting will not be switched on constantly. The lighting load has therefore dropped to 10W/m2 in the office areas. To complement the daylighting, the building energy conservation features are also enhanced by the use of energy efficient artificial lighting installation. The energy efficiency of an artificial lighting installation depends on: • •

The efficiency of the various components of the system: lamps, ballasts, luminaires, The way in which they are used, often strongly influenced by the control system and the daylight availability

The 26 mm diameter fluorescent tube is used instead of 38 mm tube. These slimmer lamps produce approximately the same light output as the larger diameter lamps of the same length and colour temperature, but consume about 8% less energy. Apart from the lamp, reflectors and control gear has been carefully selected to make the artificial lighting to become more efficient. In some areas the reduced overhead lighting is applied as appropriate, as it is anticipated that the task lighting will be used at some workspaces. The general lighting comprises of high frequency low energy fluorescent lamps to improve energy efficiency and keep maintenance costs to a minimum. Offices lighting is provided with pendant luminaries utilising direct/indirect light distribution. In general lighting which complies with CIBSE LG7 is used, in open plan office. Metal halide and low voltage halogen luminaries are used for decorative effect and accent lighting in the reception areas. To balance between achieving a good daylighting factor but at the same time preventing excessive over heating in summer, the control system ensure that automatic controlled blinds and window coverings on all solar exposed windows during appropriate times of the day is in operation. The control system also ensures to operate the blinds and windows when rooms are not in use to block excessive direct sunlight. 6.4.2 Lighting Control System Four methods of lighting control are used: – – – –

Time-based control, Daylight-linked control, Occupancy-linked control, and localised switching

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Occupancy sensing has been shown to be an effective means of reducing lighting energy use in offices [3, 6, 12]. Time scheduling can also save significant energy in similar way in large spaces [16]. Time scheduling saved from 0.7 to 6.6 percent or an average of about 5 percent. Occupant sensors in similar areas saved from 9.0 to 14.6 percent, with an average of about 10 percent [4, 10, 11]. Further improvements in energy efficiency are achieved by using automatic sensing of daylight levels and sensing the linking to occupancy to reduce the illuminance level and the number of hours for which electric lighting is used and from switching off electric lighting when a space is unoccupied. Therefore, the lighting control strategy for a particular space in this building depends on the daylight availability and the type and pattern of occupation. Localised switching is used where only part of a large space requires the electric lighting to be switched on, either because the other parts are unoccupied or because daylight there is adequate. In addition Localised switching will increase user satisfaction by allowing occupants to have more control over their working environment through the use of localised switches. Studies in open plan offices have shown wide variations in user preference for lighting with some occupants switching their lighting on under almost all conditions and others doing so only on rare occasions. This produces noticeable energy savings compared with the common situation where the lighting in the entire space is controlled with a single switch. For spaces with negligible daylighting, a combination of time switching and localised switching cover most situations, although care is necessary to ensure that the lighting is not automatically switched off to leave dangerous blackout conditions. For installations with sparse and intermittent occupancy, localised switching will eliminate the need for the whole space to be lit when only a small part is in use; occupancy detectors are particularly suitable for such spaces

7 Heating System Low temperature hot water for heating is used and it is generated by 2 No 83kW low NOx atmospheric wall hung gas fired room sealed boilers located within the office building cupboard. Balanced flues are terminating through the office external wall. Air for combustion and plant room ventilation is provided via louvers located in the external wall. System make-up and pressure is maintained by pressurisation unit. The unit is provided with high and low pressure switches and expansion vessel to inhibit the boiler operation in the event of an alarm. Primary heating pump set is used to maintain the minimum flow through the boilers and overcome the primary circuit resistance. Separate pumped distribution circuits will be provided to facilitate a constant temperature circuit serving the heater batteries of the air handling plant and a compensated circuit to serve the radiators.

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Fig. 6. Panel Radiator for general Heating

Steel panel radiators as sown on the above figure are used for general heating. Each radiator is provided by a thermostatic valve on the flow connection and a lockshield valve on the return.

8 Insulation and Building Fabric The building fabric and envelopes is to reduce demands upon energy consuming M&E system. As part of an integrated energy efficient design to achieve energy conservation, exposed (and semi-exposed) elements are insulated to produce an insulated building envelope. Filling cavity walls with insulation is used as the first instance wherever possible as it is one of the most cost-effective options. Roof and floor slab insulation (including slab edge insulation) are particularly important as well. In the pitched roofs, at least 200 mm of insulation is used, laid in two layers, one between the joists and the second across the joists to prevent thermal bridging. A gap at the eaves allows ventilation and prevents condensation. Battens is used to raise access walkways above the insulation. Improvements in glazing technologies over recent years provide enormous opportunities in this building project. Quite significant the reduction of U values can now be readily achieved compared with few years ago. This makes it possible to get a good daylighting factor but at the same reduce the overheating in summer. Building fabric has been chosen to meet the requirement of revised U values, air leakage and heat gain requirements. Attention is also paid to avoiding thermal bridging. Heat loss from thermal bridging occurs where one element of a building is more poorly insulated, and thus colder, than the other parts. Thermal bridges are also associated with condensation. This it has been anticipated that this will occur around windows, doors, and at the junctions between external walls, floors and roofs. The thermal bridging is avoided by maintaining continuity of insulation. Where this is not possible, overlap the insulating layers techniques is used to prevent a direct thermal bridge this is enhanced by the use a material with good insulating properties to bridge the gap between the layers.

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Fig. 7. Building envelopes with glazing, 20% Roof Areas as Roof Light and 40% of Façade Areas

Background air leakage is minimised and controllable ventilation is provided by means of purpose-designed openings. It has been identified that the main air leakage paths are: – – –

Joints around components, e.g. windows gaps between one building element and another Holes where services pass through the construction.

In this leakage parts, care has been taken to ensure that these areas are well sealed. Minimum U values for various elements of the building fabric have been used. External shading is used to prevent solar radiation from entering into the buildings and reduces the cooling load, results to better control of overheating and indoor temperatures. Space cooling load may be reduced by 30%due to proper shading. The office provides an element of shading to the North West of the Site. The south east corner is affected by overshadowing primarily during the early morning in all seasons.

9 Discussion and Conclusions The introduction of the legislation has made necessary for the buildings in the UK to have a better energy design and performance and the requirement to use more efficient M&E systems in building. Approved document Part L2A is intended for new non-domestic buildings.

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The office building in case study has shown the compliance with the building regulation and thus conserves the energy. Energy conservation in office building and the compliance with building regulation are achieved through early incorporation into the building design. A large array of solutions exists to achieve energy conservation in building. Design has to consider flexibility along with the ideal design solutions, and must allow for the building to be satisfactorily commissioned and maintained. These criteria are incorporated into the design of building in case study, which are: – – – – –

–

Ventilation system with good high heat recovery system. Limiting the heat loss and gain through the fabric by enhancing levels of insulation of building fabric to achieve lower u-values. Limiting the heat loss and gain through the fabric of the building by improving air tightness to minimise any uncontrolled air leakage. Providing space heating and hot water systems which are energy efficient. Improve daylight levels and reduce artificial lighting energy. Artificial lighting energy is achieved thorough provision of lighting control systems with appropriate lamps so that energy can be used efficiently. Improve control and monitoring of mechanical heating and ventilation systems

Results from previous studies suggest that the key feature of an energy efficient building as a meaningful way to contribute to energy conservation is expected [2,9]. Full consideration should be given to operating costs, instead of the all too common short-sighted approach of only considering capital investment. But nevertheless the reasonable saving could be regained from the use of less energy during the operational life of the building. This paper has provided a show case of an office building and the measure that have been taken to conserve the energy. This brings practical implication to building services engineers, consulting engineers who might want to design an office building that conserves the energy. Certainly, the Part L Building Regulations has statutory legislation in the UK, however this regulation has been amended and synchronised with the Directive on the Energy Performance of Buildings (EPBD) set up by the European Parliament and Council on energy efficiency of buildings. So this study will not be only useful for building engineers in the UK but also in the EU as well as any part of the globe which use EPBD as the basis to develop local energy code.

References 1. Khudhair, A.M., Farid, M.M.: A review on energy conservation in building applications with thermal storage by latent heat using phase change materials. Energy Conversion and Management 45, 263–275 (2004) 2. Balaras, C.A., Dascalaki, E., Gaglia, A., Droutsa, K.: Energy conservation potential, HVAC installations and operational issues in Hellenic airports. Energy and Buildings 35, 1105–1120 (2003)

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3. Chirarattananon, S., Taweekun, J.: A technical review of energy conservation programs for commercial and government buildings in Thailand. Energy Conversion and Management 44, 743–762 (2003) 4. Enshen, L., Zixuan, Z., Xiaofei, M.: Are the energy conservation rates (RVRs) approximate in different cities for the same building with the same outer-wall thermal insulation measures? Building and Environment 40, 537–544 (2005) 5. Fayaza, R., Kari, B.M.: Comparison of energy conservation building codes of Iran, Turkey, Germany, China, ISO 9164 and EN 832. Applied Energy (2009) 6. Khana, K.H., Rasulb,*M.G., Khan, M.M.K.: Energy conservation in buildings: cogeneration and cogeneration coupled with thermal-energy storage. Applied Energy 77, 15–34 (2004) 7. Markis, T., Paravantis, J.A.: Energy conservation in small enterprises. Energy and Buildings 39, 404–415 (2007) 8. Balaras, C.A., Dascalaki, E., Gaglia, A., Droutsa, K.: Energy conservation potential, HVAC installations and operational issues in Hellenic airports. Energy and Buildings 35, 1105–1120 (2003) 9. Santamouris, M., Daskalaki, E.: Passive retrofitting of office buildings to improve their energy performance and indoor environment: the OFFICE Project. Building and Environment 37, 575–578 (2002) 10. Warnken, J., Bradley, M., Guilding, C.: Exploring methods and practicalities of conducting sector-wide energy consumption accounting in the tourist accommodation industry. Ecological Economics 48, 125–141 (2004) 11. Canbay, C.S., Hepbasli, A., Gokcen, G.: Evaluating performance indices of a shopping centre and implementing HVAC control principles to minimize energy usage. Energy and Buildings 36, 587–598 (2004) 12. Balaras, C.A., Droutsa, K., Argiriou, A.A., Wittchen, K.: Assessment of energy and natural resource conservation in office buildings using TOBUS. Energy and Buildings 34, 135–153 (2002) 13. Loveday, D.L., Parsons, K.C., Taki, A.H., Hodder, S.G.: Displacement ventilation envi-ronments with chilled ceilings: thermal comfort design within the context of the BS EN ISO7730 versus adaptive debate. Energy and Buildings 34, 573–579 (2002) 14. Heidari, S., Sharples, S.: A comparative analysis of short-term and longterm thermal comfort surveys in Iran. Energy and Buildings 34, 607–614 (2002) 15. Priambodo, A., Kumar, S.: Energy use and carbon dioxide emissions of Indonesian small and medium scale industries. Energy Conversion and Management 42, 1335–1348 (2001) 16. Tzikopoulos, A.F., Karatza, M.C., Paravantis, J.A.: Modeling energy efficiency of bioclimatic buildings. Energy and Buildings 27, 529–544 (2005)

Energy Analysis of Ventilated Roof F. Patania, A. Gagliano, F. Nocera, A. Ferlito, and A. Galesi Department of Industrial and Mechanics Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Catania, Viale A. Doria n.6 95125 - Catania, Italy

Abstract. The thermal performance of the building envelope is an important requirement for guaranteeing both a comfortable indoor climate and building’s energy efficiency. Ventilated facades and ventilated roofs could be considered as a passive cooling system that contribute to realize low energy building. The energy advantages provided by the ventilation of structures, during the summer, is the reduction of the cooling load due to the combined effect of the shading of the external wall and the heat removed by the air flow rate in the ventilated duct. The objective of this study is to evaluate, the effects of the pitch angle, the intensity of solar radiation, size and shape of the cavity, on the thermal behaviour of ventilated roof. The results show the amount of the Energy Saving obtainable by the ventilation of the roof.

1 Introduction The ventilated roof is a construction method used for roof with a pitch angle of more than 20° at least; it consists of a conventional roof structure with an air gap where it’s allowed the movement of the ambient air. In region with high level of solar radiation ventilated structure can contribute to reduce envelope gains of building both for the combined effect of shading and for the free and continuous ventilation in the air gap. The mass air flow is heated in the ventilated space by the sun , it becomes lighter (buoyancy effects) and carries away heat from the roof through natural convection especially during the peak cooling demand. In this way, ventilation reduces the heat accumulation in the structure and at the meantime reduces the heat flux into the building. During the winter or other times when the outdoor temperature is lower than the indoor temperature, the air gap should be shut, for the reason that heat flows goes from indoor to outdoor, on the other hand the air circulation prevent harmful condensation extending the life of the roofing system. The aim of the work was to acquire a better knowledge on the operational characteristics of ventilated roof during summer period because this period has the largest interest in Mediterranean area. Knowledge of the ventilated roof energy performance is very important for the development of products and construction techniques based on this technologies.

R.J. Howlett, L.C. Jain, & S.H. Lee (Eds.): Sustainability in Energy and Buildings, SIST 7, pp. 15–23. springerlink.com © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2011

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Nomenclature

d: thickness of the air duct (m) ESr: energy saving rate, dimensionless L: length of air duct (m) -2 I: solar radiation flux (W m ) l: width of air duct (m) p: pitch angle (%) p0: air pressure into the duct at y=0 (Pa) pL: air pressure into the duct at y=H (Pa) -2 Q: heat flux incoming (W m ) Qtnv: heat flux incoming in absence of -2 ventilation (W m ) ri: inner surface thermal resistance 2 -1 (m K W ) Rtnv: total thermal resistance of the wall 2 -1 in absence of ventilation (m K W ) T: temperature (K) R1: thermal resistance of the inner slab 2 -1 in presence of ventilation (m K W )

R1nv: thermal resistance of the inner slab in absence of ventilation (m2 K -1 W ) Te: outdoor air temperature in the shade (K) TL: air temperature at duct outlet (K) Ti: indoor air temperature (K) T1, T2: air temperature of the air duct inner faces respectively of the inner slab and the outer slab in absence of ventilation (K) T1’, T2’: air temperature in correspondence of inner’s faces respectively of the inner slab and the outer slab in presence of ventilation (K) T0: air temperature at the inlet of the duct (K) -1 -1 :: thermal thermal conductivity conductivity (Wm (Wm K ) -3 :: air air density density (kg (kg m m )

2 Methodology The study of thermal performances of ventilated roof requires a complete thermo fluid-dynamic analysis of the ventilated air gap, an accurate knowledge of the thermo-physical properties of the materials and the the modality of heat transfer. The insulated ventilated roofs have been schematized as a two dimensional system [5] (see fig.1) consisting of two slabs (inner and outer slab) delimiting an air duct into which the air mass flows. The modelled roof is 6 m long and 1 m wide[2,3,4]. Three typologies of ventilated roof characterised by the same value of thermal resistance ( Rtnv=1.93 m2KW-1) but with different position of the thermal insulating, have been studied: 1. 2. 3.

the roof C1 has the insulation placed in the inner slab; the roof C2 has the insulation placed in the outer slab; the roof C12 has half insulation placed in the inner slab and half in the outer slab.

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Fig. 1. Scheme of ventilated roof

Thermo-physical characteristics and geometry (thickness d, density ρ and conductivity λ) of the ventilated roofs are shown in Table 1. Table 1. Thermophysical characteristics of ventilated roofs

No. of layer 1 (Ext) 2 3 *4 5 6 7 (Int)

Description of layer Brick tiles Wooden planking Air (ventilation duct) Rigid fibreglass panels Cement mortar Brick and concrete floor slab Lime mortar and cement plastering

Thickness s (m)

ρ -3 (kgm )

λ -1 -1 (Wm K )

0.035 0.01 0.10 0.04 0.015 0.30

1800 450 100 2000 1600

0.75 0.12 0.56 0.038 1.40 0.81

0.015

1800

0.90

*In roof C2 the insulation layer is placed under the layer 2 In roof C12 the insulation layer is equally subdivided under the layer 2 and over the layer 5.

The cooling performance of these ventilated roofs have been analysed varying both the geometric characteristics(pitch angle p and the air gap thickness d) and the operative climatic conditions (outdoor temperature Te and solar radiations I). The air mass flow rate and its thermodynamic properties in the ventilated roof is a function of the fluid dynamic in the duct geometry, the heat flux and the external atmospheric conditions (wind velocity and direction).

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Numerous CFD simulations have been carried out utilising the computer code “Fluent” for predicting the air mass flow and its thermodynamic properties in the ventilated roof [1]. To simplify the study the effect of wind on the system are not considered. A finite-difference numerical solution technique based [7] on integration over the control volume has been used to solve the model equations with appropriate boundary conditions . A non-uniform computational grid was used for the prediction of two-dimensional flow in the air gap, with dense grid cells distributed in the air gap and near the walls of the building. The final converged steady-solutions have been obtained by solving iteratively the unsteady transport equations with very large pseudo-time steps. Convergence of the numerical solution was considered to have been achieved when the sum of normalised residuals for each flow equation was less than 10-3. Convergence is typically achieved following about from 600 up to 800 iterations.

3 Thermal Performance of Ventilated Roof During summer time a well performing roof should inhibit heat transfer from the outdoor to the indoor ambient. Therefore, in order to have a quantitative assessment of the performance of the ventilated roof it is necessary to compare the heat flux incoming for the two typologies of roof ( ventilated and unventilated).

Fig. 2. Temperatures and heat flux incoming for unventilated (a) and ventilated (b) air duct

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This comparison have been developed introducing the Energy Saving rate ESr defined as: ES r =

Qtnv - Q Qtnv

(1)

where Qtnv and Q are the heat flux, coming into the building, referred to an unventilated roof and to a ventilated roof. Considering only the lower part of the ventilated roof (insulation layer and structural component) , the unventilated and ventilated roof have the same stratigraphy [5]. For unventilated roof the incoming heat flux (see fig. 2.a) can be calculated as : Qtnv = (T1 -Ti)/ R1nv

(2)

For ventilated roof (see fig. 2.b) the heat flux will be calculated given by the equation: Q = (T1’ -Ti)/ R1

(3)

Therefore, neglecting variation with temperature of thermal resistance, the terms R1nv and R1 assume the same value: Ri = Rinv = ri +

∑sλ N i

i i

In consequence the ESr can be calculated as: ESr = [(T1 -Ti ) - (T1’ -Ti)] / (T1 -Ti )

(4)

4 Results and Discussion The figure 3 shows the daytime temperature difference, between ventilated and unventilated roof, considering two different positions of the insulation layer(C1 and C2). The temperature differences have a maximum at the midday when the solar radiation have the high intensity and the cooling load a maximum. It is also possible to observe that the roof C1, characterized by the insulation placed over the inner slab, shows the higher values of the temperature difference (T1 - T1’) while the roof C2 characterized by the insulation placed under the outer slab, has lower values of the temperature difference (T1 - T1’). The figure 4 shows that the energy saving rate ESr increases significantly if the incident solar radiation I increases. This effect is mainly due to the greater augment of the term (T1 -Ti) respect to (T1’ -Ti) in the equation 4. This result indicate that the ventilated roofs have the best performance, from the point of view of energy saving, for high value of the solar radiation I.

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Fig. 3. Daytime temperature differences between ventilated and unventilated roof for roofs C1 and C2

Fig. 4. Variations of energy savings rate ESr with the solar radiation intensity I

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The increase of the inlet temperature T0 , considering the solar radiation constant, causes the augment of the terms (T1’ -Ti) and consequently causes the reduction of the energy saving rate ESr. It is possible to observe, also for this case, that the roof C1 has the best thermal performance while the roof C2 has the worst values of the energy saving rate ESr. The figure 5 shows that an increase of the height gap d involves the augment of the energy saving rate ESr.

Fig. 5. Variations of energy savings rate ESr with the air gap thickness d

These results appear coherent with the fact that a larger air gap permits better ventilation of the air inside the duct because the air flow becomes turbulent and consequently it enhances its capability of heat loss to the environment. On the contrary, the increase of the air gap over 15 cm, leads to a reduction of the heat transfer due to a laminar flow of the air or at least stagnation. Summarizing the analysis of results shows that an increase of the air gap thickness d, up to 12-13 cm might improve the performance of the ventilated roof in summer condition. It is possible to observe, that the roof C1 has the best thermal performance, and the roof C2 has the worst values of the energy saving rate ESr. The figure 6 shows that an increase of the pitch angle p up to 35°- 38°, involves the augment of the energy saving rate ESr, while for pitch angles higher than 38° there is a reduction of the energy performance of the ventilated roof.

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Fig. 6. Variations of energy savings rate ESr with the pitch angle p

5 Conclusions Numerous CFD simulations have been carried out to characterize the thermo fluid dynamic behaviour of different typologies of ventilated roofs. The results carried out by the CFD simulations permit the evaluation of the energetic performances of ventilated roofs varying position of the insulating material, pitch angle and thickness of air gap. The analysis of the energy saving rate ESr allow the following considerations during summer period:     

the performance of the ventilated roof are much better than the unventilated with the same total thermal resistance; the better position of the insulating layer is close to the cold layer of the roof (over the inner slab); the increase of the external air temperature Te causes the decrease in the energy saving rate ESr due to the reduction of the effect of ventilation of the structure; an height gap d up to 12-13 cm permits the maximum of the energy saving rate ESr; the pitch angle p of 38° permits the maximum of the energy saving rate ESr.

In conclusion a tilt ventilated roof permits an energy saving up to 60% compared to an unventilated roof. These results indicate the importance to utilize in hot region the ventilation of the roof as a good and not invasive techniques of passive cooling and it could significantly contribute to a building’s energy conservation during summer period. Ventilated roof components can be a promising solution for the Mediterranean countries concerning summer passive cooling.

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References [1] Fluent 6.3 User Guide [2] Ciampi, M., Leccese, F., Tuoni, G.: On the thermal behaviour of ventilated facades and roof. La Termotecnica 1, 87–97 (2002) (in Italian) [3] Ciampi, M., Leccese, F., Tuoni, G.: On the use of ventilated facades to reduce summer thermal loads. Costruire in Laterizio 89, 70–75 (2002) (in Italian) [4] Ciampi, M., Leccese, F., Tuoni, G.: Ventilated facades energy performance in summer cooling of buildings. Solar Energy 75, 491–502 (2003) [5] Dimoudi, A., Androutsopolous, A., Lycoudis, S.: Summer performances of a ventilated roof component. Energy and Buildings 38, 610–617 (2006) [6] Villi, G., Pasut, W., De Carli, M.: CFD modelling and thermal performance analysis of a wooden ventilated roof structure. Building Simulation 2, 215–228 (2009) [7] Patankar, S.V.: Numerical heat transfer and fluid flow. Hemisphere Publications (1980)

cooling demand; 2

C CFD simulations Fluent; 4

D Daytime temperature difference; 6

E Energy Saving rate summer time; 5

H Height gap; 8

N Natural convection

P Passive cooling hot regions; 10 Pitch angle; 9

S Solar radiation; 7

T Thermo fluid-dynamic thermal insulating; 3

V Ventilated roofs; 1

An Analytic Hierarchy Process Model for Assessing Occupants’ Adaptations to Thermal Comfort in Offices Jing Liu1, Runming Yao1, and Rachel McCloy2 1 2

School of Construction Management and Engineering, the University of Reading, UK e-mail: [email protected] School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, the University of Reading, UK

Abstract. The adaptations people utilize in response to ambient physical environmental variations are critical factors for the thermal comfort of occupants in real environments. From the adaptive point of view, thermal comfort is not solely dependent on physical thermal stimuli, but involves complex interactions between the occupants’ adaptations to the physical environmental stimuli and socio-economic-cultural issues. Under certain circumstances, the adaptation of occupants to their environment may be affected by physiological, behavioural and psychological factors. The interaction of the three adaptations further affects the extent of the thermal comfort the occupants finally feel. This paper introduces a method for the evaluation of the weight of contributions of three categories of adaptations to attain thermal comfort in office environments using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). The AHP is an ideal tool for decision-making where multiple factors are involved. Through solving a pairwise comparison matrix, the weight of each adaptation category can be produced. This paper aims to develop an empirical occupants’ adaptation-based thermal comfort model for office environments. The feasibility and validity of such the model has been verified by a pilot study.

1 Introduction The adaptive theory of thermal comfort as an alternative to conventional heat balance theory was proposed in the 1970s in response to the oil shock [1]. Many field studies have been carried out worldwide in the last two decades and the weaknesses of thermal comfort assessment on the basis of heat balance theory were subsequently revealed, particularly for thermal comfort evaluation in non-airconditioned environments. This mainly arose from the discrepancies between results for predicted and observed cases in terms of thermal sensation, satisfaction and comfort temperature [2][3][4]. Brager and de Dear [1] attributed such discrepancies to the adaptive approaches adopted by occupants. From the adaptive point of view, occupants were no longer regarded as passive recipients of thermal environmental stimuli but as active ones interacting with the person-environment

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system via multiple feedback loops [1]. Fanger extended his PMV-PPD model to thermal comfort evaluation of non-air-conditioned buildings in warm climates by introducing an expectancy factor ‘e’ [5]. On the basis of global field investigations into thermal comfort, which covered four continents and different climatic zones, ASHRAE [6] compiled the adaptive indoor comfort temperature zones against mean monthly outdoor temperature in the latest version of the ASHRAE standard. In response to the adaptations of the occupants, the CIBSE guide had also been extensively revised including the adaptive approach and thermal comfort criteria based on the outdoor running-mean temperature for offices in both the free-running model and for the air-conditioned model [7]. The thermal comfort defined in those standards no longer consisted of specific fixed figures, but of dynamic ranges varying with the outdoor climate. Therefore, thermal comfort is a dynamic process which is the outcome of complex interactions between people’s adaptations to physical environmental stimuli and socio-economic-cultural issues. In recent decades, many studies on the effects of occupants’ adaptations in terms of physiological, behavioural and psychological dimensions on thermal comfort have been conducted [8][9][10][11]. However, they were either carried out in a climatic chamber in which the environmental parameters could be strictly controlled as the experimenters wished in order to explore some adaptation, such as thermoregulation of occupants in response to physical environmental variations [8], or regarding those adaptations as a whole and evaluating their effect in a qualitative way [9][10][11]. In other words, the interactions between each adaptation and how much each adaptation contributed to thermal comfort was not studied systematically. In this paper, a model will be established to evaluate the weights of three categories of adaptations to thermal comfort in office environments using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method and validating the model by means of a pilot study.

2 AHP Model Developments 2.1 AHP Method The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) developed by Saaty [12] provides an ideal tool to help decision-making that is influenced by multiple objectives. Since AHP was produced, it has been applied widely in different fields all over the world [13][14][15][16]. Three categories of adaptation and the corresponding elements that may affect the thermal comfort of the human body can be identified by establishing the AHP model (see Figure 1). These elements comprise physiological indices, the indoor environment, the outdoor environment, personal physical factors, environmental control and thermal expectation. The lack and neglect of any factors will give birth to low-level thermal satisfaction or to a growth in complaints about the thermal environment.

An AHP Model for Assessing Occupants’ Adaptations to Thermal Comfort in Offices

27

In Figure 1, a four-stratum hierarchy is developed to evaluate the contributions of three categories of adaptation and the corresponding elements including physiological factors, environmental factors, personal factors, environmental control factors and thermal expectation factors for thermal comfort. A number of subsets, which consist of all the elements dominated by a single element of the adjacent higher stratum, exist at different stratum levels of a hierarchy. In each such subset there is a total order in which each element is related to a dominating element in the adjacent upper level. A hierarchy is complete if each element of a given stratum is dominated by every element of the adjacent upper stratum. The elements in the lower level make contributions to the dominant element in the adjacent upper stratum, which can be considered as a criterion for assessing the corresponding contributions of the elements in the lower level. When applying the AHP method, the weight of an element in a stratum is the sum of its priorities in each of the subsets to which it belongs; each is weighted by the fraction of elements of the stratum which belong to that subset, and by the weights of the subset. The resulting set of priorities is normalized by dividing by its sum. The weight of a subset in a stratum is equal to the sum of the weights of the dominating elements in the next stratum.

Fig. 1. AHP model for assessing the contribution of factors to thermal comfort

In the AHP method, a nine-point scale ranging from 1 (equal importance) to 9 (absolutely more important) is proposed to quantify subjects’ judgments between two variables [12]. Table 1 gives the definition and explanation of each value on the numerical scale.

28

J. Liu, R. Yao, and R. McCloy Table 1. Scale for importance for activities [12]

Values of 1 3

a ij

Definition

Explanation

Objectives i and j are of equal importance Objective i is just more important than objective j

Two activities contribute equally There is evidence suggesting one activity is probably more important than another Good evidence and logical criteria exist to demonstrate that one is more important Conclusive evidence shows the importance of one activity over another The evidence in favour of one activity over another is absolute

5

Objective i is much more important than objective j

7

Objective i is demonstrably more important than objective j Objective i is absolutely more important than objective j Intermediate values between the two adjacent judgments

9 2, 4, 6, 8

Where,

e.g. a value of 8 is midway between ‘demonstrably’ and ‘absolutely evident’

a ij represents the element in row i and column j of a comparison matrix.

All of the information required by the AHP method is collected by a questionnaire survey. 2.2 Weights Calculation The determination of the weight for each factor by applying the AHP method is divided into the following steps: 2.2.1 Structuring the Assessment System The main purpose of structuring an assessment system is to quantify the information required for the development of a comparison matrix. At present, there are some acknowledged representative indices available for adaptive thermal comfort evaluation. In addition, after an extensive literature review, other indices which may affect thermal comfort are supplemented. All of these indices and corresponding elements and their interactions are depicted in Figure 1. 2.2.2 Producing the Combined Comparison Matrix Due to the form of the pairwise comparison in the questionnaire, n m × m individual comparison matrices are obtained. After that, the next step is to incorporate those individual comparison matrices into a combined one by using the geometric mean.

An AHP Model for Assessing Occupants’ Adaptations to Thermal Comfort in Offices

29

2.2.3 Solving the Combined Comparison Matrix If the comparison matrix A is a consistent matrix, the weights of each factor form the normalised eigenvector (W) corresponding to the maximum eigenvalue of m. For the non-consistent comparison matrix, Saaty suggested the adoption of the normalised eigenvector (W), which corresponds to the maximum eigenvalue. This principle can be explained by introducing the equation below: (2.1)

A×W T = B ×W T

Where W T is an unknown m-dimension column vector and B is constant. For the consistent comparison matrix, the only non-trivial solution to equation (2.1) is B=m and W = (w1 , w2 , " , wm ) . For the non-consistent comparison matrix, let

Bmax be the greatest value in case of equation (2.1) with a non-trivial solution, which is designated as Wmax . If the non-consistent comparison does not deviate from the consistent one, the value of Bmax should be close to m and the values of Wmax should be close to W. That is to say, in such a case the values of W are approximated by Wmax . The results from such an approximating approach are valid and reliable only if passing the consistency test. 2.2.4 Consistency Test In order to perform the consistency test, the consistency index (CI) should be calculated first using the equation (2.2) below:

CI = Where

λmax − n

(2.2)

n −1

λ max is the maximum eigenvalue of the comparison matrix, which can be

computed by:

λmax =

n×∑ m

i =1

(

1 A ×W T WT i

( )

)

(2.3)

i

Where, i represents the ith element in A× W T and in W T . Then, calculating the consistency ratio (CR) by dividing CI by the value of the random index (RI), which can be obtained by referring to the random index table in related books, Table 2 gives the values corresponding to the values of n from 2-10.

30

J. Liu, R. Yao, and R. McCloy Table 2. Values of random index (RI) N

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

RI

0

0.58

0.90

1.12

1.24

1.32

1.41

1.45

1.51

If CR =

CI 0.1, that means the degree of consistency is not satisfactory RI and serious inconsistencies may exist.

3 Model Validations In order to validate the proposed AHP model, a pilot study was carried out in July 2009. There were 12 respondents participating in this questionnaire survey. All of them came from the School of Construction Management and Engineering, University of Reading, UK. After that, the information about their judgments of the importance between factors influencing the thermal comfort of occupants in offices was obtained. Table 3 shows the combined comparison matrix and the relative importance of the adaptive factors. Table 3. Relative importance of adaptive factors

Factors Physiological Adaptation Behavioural Adaptation Psychological Adaptation

Physiological

Behavioural

Psychological

Adaptation

Adaptation

Adaptation

EIGENVALUE

1.000

3.1075

0.9687

0.4509

0.3218

1.0000

0.7469

0.1984

1.0323

1.3389

1.0000

0.3507

CI=0.0428; CR=0.0739

The normalised matrix

Anorm is produced by dividing each element in column j of

matrix A by the sum of the elements in column j.

Anorm

⎛ 0.4248 0.5706 0.3573 ⎞ ⎜ ⎟ = ⎜ 0.1367 0.1836 0.2748 ⎟ ⎜ 0.4385 0.2458 0.3679 ⎟ ⎝ ⎠

An AHP Model for Assessing Occupants’ Adaptations to Thermal Comfort in Offices

Then, the

31

A × W T can be calculated as follows:

⎛ 1.000 3.1075 0.9687 ⎞ ⎛ 0.4509 ⎞ ⎛ 1.4072 ⎞ ⎟ ⎟ ⎜ ⎟ ⎜ ⎜ A × W = ⎜ 0.3218 1.0000 0.7469 ⎟ × ⎜ 0.1984 ⎟ = ⎜ 0.6054 ⎟ ⎜ 1.0323 1.3389 1.0000 ⎟ ⎜ 0.3507 ⎟ ⎜ 1.0818 ⎟ ⎠ ⎠ ⎝ ⎠ ⎝ ⎝ T

The value of

λ max =

λmax is computed based on equation (2.3):

n×∑ m

i =1

(

1 A×W T WT i

( )

)

=

i

1 = 3.0857 1.4072 0.6054 1.0818 + + ) 3× ( 0.4509 0.1984 0.3507

The consistency index (CI) is then computed:

CI =

λmax − n n −1

=

3.0857 − 3 = 0.0428 3 −1

In this case, m=3, the RI=0.58, so the CR is:

CR =

CI 0.0428 = = 0.0739 0.58 RI

The value of CR is lower than 0.10, this implies that the degree of consistency is satisfactory.

0.5

0.4509 0.3507

0.4 0.3 0.1984 0.2 0.1 0.0 Physiological Adaptation

Behavioural Adaptation

Psychological Adaptation

Fig. 2. Relative Importance of Adaptive Factors

32

J. Liu, R. Yao, and R. McCloy

Figure 2 depicts the relative importance of the adaptive factors impacting on the thermal comfort of the human body. The physiological adaptation ranks highest followed by psychological adaptation and behavioural adaptation, respectively. In order to get the weight for each system factor, similar pairwise comparisons are applied. The results are shown in Table 4. Table 4. Weights of each System Factor Physiological

Factors

Adaptation

Behavioural Adaptation

Psychological

WEIGHT

Adaptation

0.4509

0.1984

0.3507

P.P/S.

0.1909

0.2492

0.2398

0.2196

I.E.

0.2502

0.2682

0.2009

0.2365

O.E.

0.0903

0.0946

0.1958

0.1282

P.P.F.

0.2209

0.1024

0.1360

0.1676

E.C.

0.1778

0.1506

0.1635

0.1674

T.E.

0.0699

0.1350

0.0640

0.0809

NOTE: P.P/S- Physiological Parameters/State; I.E.- Indoor Environment; O.E.- Outdoor Environment; P.P.F.- Personal Physical Factors; E.C.- Environmental Controls; T.E.- Thermal Expectation

The results in Table 4 and Figure 3 present the weights of each system factor. Indoor environment factors and Physiological parameters/State are the two most important indices affecting the thermal comfort of the human body in offices with weightings of 0.2365 and 0.2196, respectively. The weights of environmental controls and the personal physical factor follow the top two factors being 0.1676 and 0.1674, respectively. The values of 0.1282 and 0.0809 are the weights for the outdoor environment and thermal expectation.

0.25

0.2196

0.2365

0.2

0.1676

0.1674

0.1282

0.15

0.0809

0.1 0.05 0 P.P/S

I.E

O.E

P.P.F

E.C

Fig. 3. Weights of each System Factor

T .E

An AHP Model for Assessing Occupants’ Adaptations to Thermal Comfort in Offices

33

The validation of the AHP method for assessing the contribution to thermal comfort of each adaptation and the corresponding factors is confirmed.

5 Conclusions In this paper, a model for assessing the weight of each adaptation and the corresponding elements for thermal comfort was developed by using the Analytic Hierarchy Process method. By applying such a model, the contributions of each adaptation and their relative importance can be understood in a quantitative way. Through the pilot study, the feasibility and validity of such a method has been verified. The consistency would be achieved and further improved on the basis of a larger sample, rather than the small sample used in the pilot study. Acknowledgments. The author would like to take this opportunity to thank Dr. M. Williams who helped with the questionnaire design and all the staff in the School of Construction Management and Engineering who participated in this questionnaire survey.

References [1] Brager, G.S., de Dear, R.J.: Thermal adaptation in the built environment: a literature review. Energy and Buildings 27(1), 83–96 (1998) [2] Dear, R.J.D., Leow, K.G., et al.: Thermal comfort in the humid tropics: field experiments in air-conditioned and naturally ventilated buildings in Singapore. International Journal of Biometeorology (34), 259–265 (1991) [3] Nicol, J.F., Raja, I.A., et al.: Climatic variations in comfortable temperatures: the Pakistan projects. Energy and Buildings 30(3), 261–279 (1999) [4] Zhang, G., Zheng, C.: Thermal Comfort Investigation of Naturally Ventilated Classrooms in a Subtropical Region. Indoor Built Environment 16(2), 148–158 (2007) [5] Fanger, P.O., Toftum, J.: Extension of the PMV model to non-air-conditioned buildings in warm climates. Energy and Buildings 34(6), 533–536 (2002) [6] ANSI/ASHRAE55-2004. ASHRAE Standard: Thermal Environmental Conditions for Human Occupancy. Atlanta, USA, American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-conditioning Engineers Inc. (2004) [7] CIBSE-Guide-A. Environmental Design. London, CIBSE (2006) [8] Gagge, A.P., Stolwijk, J.A.J., et al.: Comfort and thermal sensation and associated physiological responses at various ambient temperatures. Environmental Research (1), 1–20 (1967) [9] Humphreys, M.A.: An adaptive approach to the thermal comfort of office workers in North West Pakistan. Renewable Energy 5(5-8), 985–992 (1994) [10] Nicol, J.F., Jamy, D.N., et al.: A survey of comfort temperatures in Pakistan: towards new indoor temperature standards. England, School of Architecture (1996) [11] Yao, R., Li, B., et al.: A theoretical adaptive model of thermal comfort - Adaptive Predicted Mean Vote (aPMV). Building and Environment 44(10), 2089–2096 (2009) [12] Saaty, T.L.: The Analytic Hierarchy Process. McGraw-Hill, New York (1972) [13] Wang, M.S., Chien, H.T.: Environmental behaviour analysis of high-rise building areas in Taiwan. Building and Environment 34(1), 85–93 (1999)

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[14] Wedding, G.C., Crawford-Brown, D.: Measuring site-level success in brownfield redevelopments: A focus on sustainability and green building. Journal of Environmental Management 85(2), 483–495 (2007) [15] Wong, J.K.W., Li, H.: Application of the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) in multicriteria analysis of the selection of intelligent building systems. Building and Environment 43(1), 108–125 (2008) [16] Li, B.: Assessing the influence of indoor environment on self-reported productivity in offices. Reading, UK, University of Reading. PhD Thesis (1998)

List of Abbreviation AHP Analytic Hierarchy Process P.P/S Physiological Parameters/State I.E. Indoor Environment O.E. Outdoor Environment P.P.F. Personal Physical Factor E.C. Environmental Controls T.E. Thermal Expectations

Advantages of Using Raw Materials in Ancient and Recent Buildings A. Murta1, H. Varum2, and J. Pinto1 1 2

University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugal University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal

Abstract. Many of the existing buildings constructed mostly with natural raw materials, in European sites, are frequently lacking proper maintenance and, therefore, a high degree of degradation is verified in these buildings compromising their integrity and reducing their lifetime probability. Often in the rehabilitation or reconstruction of old buildings the solution adopted is the partial or integral demolition and substitution of several building components. The aims of this study are to describe the most common constructive solutions in Portuguese buildings constructed with raw natural materials, to specify the principal problems that affect each building component, and to present possible solutions to correct each defect. This study is focused on the principal elements that compose the building structures in Portugal, including load-bearing walls, wooden floor and roof structures. The architecture solution, the structure solution, the building material’s identification/characterization, the sequence of structural failures and the main pathologies identification/characterization related to an early XX century Portuguese watermill were described and detailed. It may be considered as a real scale experimental model which may contribute to the rehabilitation and conservation fields of traditional Portuguese buildings. The structural failure sequence was analyzed, the corrective solutions presented and studied privileges the adoption of materials and techniques similar and most compatible with the original ones. It’s also presented the structural solution savings of energy consumption and CO2 emission. The results of this study were found to be easily extrapolated to the repairing of the Portuguese traditional buildings which are in general environmental friendly.

1 Introduction In Portugal, the main traditional construction techniques that make use of earth are rammed earth, adobe and half-timbered. These techniques fell into disuse upon the appearance of reinforced concrete and ceramic bricks [1]. An expressive amount of the existing Portuguese buildings are old buildings which frequently reveal a certain lack of maintenance or conservation and the main reason for this fact is inherent to cost reasons. The cause of these premature pathologies may be building error, design error, inappropriate building conception, inappropriate or deficient building materials, among others and may result in

R.J. Howlett, L.C. Jain, & S.H. Lee (Eds.): Sustainability in Energy and Buildings, SIST 7, pp. 35–44. springerlink.com © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2011

36

A. Murta, H. Varum, and J. Pinto

partial or total collapses of the constructions. The occurrence of pathology may lead to others and, in the limit, may results in a progressive structural collapse [2]. A regular maintenance or conservation work is required to avoid unexpected building deterioration [3]. Based on the concept of “inform to prevent”, a research project was launched at the University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro (UTAD) with the main purpose of transmitting to an expressive percentage of the population the urgency of having a sustainable attitude in all the activities and, in particular, in the construction field. Considering that, sustainable construction can be divided in four main areas which are: efficient energy use, sustainable urban planning, efficient water management and sustainable building construction. In the context of sustainable building construction an early XX century Portuguese watermill building is used in this research work as a study case to show how a roof leaking may lead to a progressive building collapse. A brief description of the building is done followed by an identification/characterization of the building materials. In particular, an experimental study of the structural mortar was done in the Microscopic Electronic Unit of (UTAD). The chronological partial roof structural failure sequence is presented and described, in which a pathology cause/effect relation is also done. Meanwhile, the analysis of this failure sequence may give evidence for achieving better robust timber structural roof solutions and also reinforcement repairing structures proposals for traditional Portuguese buildings that are also presented in this study.

2 Sustainability The Earth planet must be seen as a delicate ecosystem which its equilibrium requires urgent attention. We consider that the main threats to sustainability are, by order of impact scale, the industry, human behavior and natural hazards (i.e. forest fire, volcanic eruption, among others). They may be interconnected to each other in certain ways. The sustainable system flowchart of Figure 1 is proposed.

I – Green Earth Planet

I

II - Industry IV III

II V

III – Human Behavior IV – Natural Hazard V – Building Industry

Fig. 1. Sustainable system flowchart

Advantages of Using Raw Materials in Ancient and Recent Buildings

37

According to Figure 1, industry is a big field system and the main cause of CO2 emission to atmosphere. The building industry is a set of that field system and it is the goal of this research work. Each building material has associated a specific cost, an energy consumption and a quantity of noxious gases released into the atmosphere, which resulted from all the phases related to its life-cycle such as the extraction from the raw material, transportation, transformation, building process, maintenance, demolition and recycling. Several research studies [4-6] have been focused on estimating the quantity of the above environmental parameters. Table 1 shows some values of energy consumption for the building materials which are considered in this research work, [4-6]. Comparing these values it is noticed that there is an expressive difference among them. According to [6], this fact may be related to the different approaches used by each author concerning different period of time for the material life-cycle and/or different fabrication techniques. Table 1. Energy consumption (MJ/kg) __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________

Material

KangHee Leiden Baird Alcorn [4] [5] [6] [6] ______________________________________________________________________________ Concrete 0.52 0.48 1.99 1.95 Bar steel 38.66 ----59.00 8.90 Mortar 0.40 0.88 2.49 1.33 Brick 2.95 0.15 2.50 ----Earth adobe 0.06 ----0.42 ----Gravel 0.15 ----0.30 0.10 Pine wood 4.44 ----8.08 1.10 Sand 0.05 ----0.04 0.10 Cement 3.33 ----8.98 7.80 Earth 0.05 ------------______________________________________________________________________________

3 Description of the Study Case In this research work, the building adopted as a study case is an early XX century Portuguese watermill (Fig. 2 and 3). The building is located in Portugal continental central region, on the coast, in the district of Coimbra, in the Municipality of Figueira da Foz, in the village of Carritos.

38

A. Murta, H. Varum, and J. Pinto

Fig. 2. Ground floor Plant, 2009 (m)

Fig. 3. Frontal view, 2009

4 Identification and Characterization of the Building Materials The used building materials are limestone, structural mortar, timber, solid and hollow ceramic bricks, finishing plaster and ceramic tiles. Since this region is sparse in stones, the structural stone masonries walls (exterior and interior) had been built up using irregular and small sized limestone pieces (Fig. 4, detail I) agglutinated by a structural mortar (Fig. 4, detail II). The average thickness of these walls is 0.40 m.

I

II

Fig. 4. Detail of the structural stone masonries walls

Timber was highly used in this building. The floor, the purling, the beams of the roof structure and over the openings (windows and doors) and the ground pavement are timber. A finishing plaster material was used in most of the walls excluding the ones of the storage room. The exterior covering of the roof is ceramic tiles.

Advantages of Using Raw Materials in Ancient and Recent Buildings

39

In order to identify the type of mortar, the type of finishing plaster and the specimen of timber, experimental tests were done. The identification/characterization of the chemical and mineralogical elementary compositions of the mortar and the finishing plaster materials was done by scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM/EDS) and X-ray tests which were performed in the Microscopic Electronic Unity of UTAD. Similar tests have been already done in the framework of other research projects [7-8] to characterize the available and used materials for the local traditional constructions. Four mortar material samples (Sample 1, 2, 3 and 4) were collected and tested. It was also tested a lime sample and a hydraulic lime sample since they are the most common binding material used in these traditional buildings. The chemical elementary composition results obtained by the SEM/EDS test are presented in Table 2. The mineralogical elementary composition results of the X-ray test shown in Table 3. Table 2. Chemical elementary composition results of the SEM/EDS (%). __________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________

Chemical Sample 1 Sample 2 Sample 3 Sample 4 Lime Hydraulic Element lime __________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________

Oxygen (O) Sodium (Na) Magnesium (Mg) Aluminium (Al) Silicon (Si) Chorine (Cl) Potassium (K) Calcium (Ca) Iron (Fe)

52.01 --------6.37 13.84 ----1.90 24.92 0.96

51.44 --------6.11 9.45 ----1.09 31.17 0.74

52.07 --------8.74 17.48 ----3.45 17.36 0.90

49.06 0.90 0.68 6.68 15.01 0.58 1.65 22.51 2.94

56.06 ---2.01 3.40 7.42 ----0.99 28.01 1.40

39.85 ----0.50 0.38 ------------59.26 -----

Table 3. Mineralogical elementary composition results of the X-ray test __________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________

Sample 1 Mineralogical composition __________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________

Sample 1 Quartz, Calcite, Muscovite Sample 2 Calcite, Kaolinite, Quartz Sample 3 Calcite, Quartz Sample 4 Calcite, Quartz, Plaster Lime Calcite,Calcium Oxide Hydraulic lime Calcite, Quartz, Plaster __________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________

Mortar material samples 1, 2 and 3 have similar elementary composition in particular in terms of chemical (Table 4.1). Based on these results and the above analyses we may consider that the mortar material samples 1, 2 and 3 are a

40

A. Murta, H. Varum, and J. Pinto

mixture of local earth and lime and the mortar material sample 4 is a mixture of a local earth and hydraulic lime. Two timber samples of the timber structural roof were experimentally identified as being Pinus pinea specimens. One timber sample of the ground floor pavement was experimentally identified as being Pinus pinaster specimen. These are both local trees specimens. Based on the above building material description it is possible to realize that most of the used materials are natural and local and, the building itself is associated to building techniques that require small amount of energy consumption and releases an unexpressive amount of noxious gases to atmosphere [9]. Consequently, we have a remarkable example of a sustainable building solution. According to [9], a sustainable structure like the one of this study will reveal a reduction of the energy consumption and noxious gases emissions amounts of over 60% when compared to a traditional column/beam concrete structure.

5 Structural Solution According to Fig. 3.2 there are two types of walls. There are several limestone based masonries walls and one solid ceramic brick based wall. The roof timber structural solution comprises two types. In the grind stone and the command rooms (Fig. 5-a) it was adopted trusses (Fig. 5-a, detail I) directly supported on the limestone based masonries walls (Fig. 5-a, detail II), these trusses support beams (Fig. 5-a, detail III) which are supporting the purling (Fig. 5-a, detail IV). On the purling there are timber boards (Fig. 5-a, detail V) supporting the ceramic tiles. VII IV

VIII IX

III I

III

IV

I

V VI

II

II

a. Trussed type roof structural solution

b. Beamed type roof structural solution

Fig. 5. Roof structural systems

The other type of roof timber structural solution was only applied in the storage room, Fig. 5-b, which includes timber beams (Fig 5-b. detail I) which were structures supported on the limestone based masonry walls (Fig. 5-b, detail II) and a central timber beam (Fig. 5-b, detail III). On these timber beams there were timber boards (Fig. 5-b, detail IV) supporting the ceramic tiles. These are remarkable traditional timber structures built under skills based on experience.

Advantages of Using Raw Materials in Ancient and Recent Buildings

41

6 Failures and Pathologies 6.1 Roof Structural Failures Sequence The roof timber structure has been facing partial collapses throughout the last nine years. The first partial collapse occurred in 2000, in which part of the roof of the storage room was lost (Fig. 6-a, detail I). It is important to underline that the main structural timber elements which are trusses did not get damaged. The second structural failure of the roof occurred in 2007 resulting in the completely loss of the roof of the storage room (Fig. 6-b, detail I) and part of the frontal limestone based masonry wall (Fig. 6-b, detail II). In 2009, the third roof structural failure occurred and the roof of the grindstone room suffered a partial collapse (Fig. 6-c, detail I) In this case, the purling (Fig 6-a, detail IV) collapsed in the zone of their support (the limestone based masonry wall (Fig. 6-a, detail VI) generating a load redistribution which resulted on the collapse of the beam (Fig. 6-a, detail III). This load redistribution was possible because the roof structural solution works as a structural system [10]. I I

I

II

II

a. 1st Collapse (2000)

b. 2nd Collapse (2007)

c. 3rd Collapse (2009)

Fig. 6. Roof’s partial collapses

6.2 Pathologies This section is focused on the pathologies associated to the above described failures. Figure 6-a in its detail II shows a local permanent deformation of the roof system of the grindstone room in its connection to the frontal wall. Some ceramic tiles were also missing there. Meanwhile, Figure 6-a illustrates the roof’s condition of the grindstone room before the above described third roof’s structural collapse occurred in 2009 (Fig. 6-c). Some purling and timbers boards showed an advanced stage of deterioration in the contact zone with the structural wall. Through Figure 5-a, detail I, it is also possible to notice that these timber elements had a darker shade than the similar ones located outside of the damaged zone which indicated a leaking problem. By doing a similar analysis, Figure 5-a, details VII, VIII and IX indicate that there were some cracked ceramic tiles or the ceramic tiles/timber board direct contact solution was not the appropriated one because may increase an undesirable water moister in the timber structural elements. An expressive vertical crack located in the junction of the two limestone based masonry wall of the storage room (Fig. 7, detail I) was formed just before the occurrence of the second roof’s structural collapse occurred in 2007.

42

A. Murta, H. Varum, and J. Pinto

7 Reinforcement Solutions In order to avoid the risk of leaking, a covering roof system is proposed in Fig. 8.

I

Fig. 7. Vertical crack, 2007

Fig. 8. Covering roof system`s detail

The option of using a sub-tile panel (Fig. 8, detail II) intended to avoid roof leaking in case of a ceramic tile cracks and to allow fixing this problem after a maintenance process. At the same time, the timber supporting solution (Fig. 8, detail III) avoids the direct contact between tile/main roof timber structure and, consequently, also it avoids the increasing of water moisture of timber structural elements which may result in either retraction effect or material deterioration. In order to mitigate the structural failure seen in Figure 7, a structural reinforcement solution is proposed in Fig 9 which includes a steel tie (Fig. 9, detail III) and an earth based reinforcement beam (Fig. 9, detail II) as additional structural elements. It is also considered that the timber beams should have a horizontal contact surface with the wall. The structural reinforcement of the junction of the masonry walls may be done according to Figure 10 in where the lengths a and b need to be specifically calculated.

Fig. 9. Structural reinforcement solution of the roof of the storage room

Advantages of Using Raw Materials in Ancient and Recent Buildings

43

b

a

b

a

a. Junction steel reinforcement

b. Junction timber reinforcement

Fig. 10. Structural reinforcement of the junction of the walls

On the base of achieving a sustainable construction solution, the steel element proposed above should be a reused one.

8 Main Conclusions A sustainable system flowchart is proposed in which the impact of the building industry is indicated. The architecture solution, the structure solution, the building material’s identification/characterization, the sequence of structural failures and the main pathologies identification/ characterization related to an early XX century Portuguese watermill were described and detailed. The structural limestone based masonry walls adopted solution has the particularity of using small size limestone pieces connected by an earth based structural mortar which is also a sustainable and economic solution. The reported structural failure sequence has been caused basically by roof leaking problems which have been deteriorating the timber structural elements of the roof of the watermill building. The trussed timber roof structural solution had shown a better structural behavior than the beamed timber roof structural solution because it avoids total collapse and, consequently, it is more robust. Some reinforcement solution details were proposed based on the failures and pathologies identified in the building. These repairing solutions proposals are also sustainable based since it was suggested to apply reused materials such as steel bars. These facts may be easily extrapolated to the repairing of the Portuguese traditional buildings which are in general environmental friendly.

References [1] Carvalho, J., Pinto, T., Varum, H., Jesus, A., Lousada, J., Morais, J.: Construções em tabique na região de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro. In: Varum, H., Carvalho, F., Costa, A., Bertini, A., Stepánek, P. (eds.) CINPAR 2008, Portugal, June 25-28 (2008) ISBN: 978-989-95695-3-9

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[2] Pinto, J., Blockley, D., Woodman, N.: The risk of vulnerable failure. Journal of Structural Safety 24, 107–122 (2002) [3] Faria, I., Freitas, P., Pinto, T., Jesus, A., Valente, A., Santos, R., Silva, P., Morais, J.: Monitorização da estrutura de madeira da cobertura da piscina municipal de Mirandela. In: Varum, H., Carvalho, F., Costa, A., Bertini, A., Stepánek, P. (eds.) CINPAR 2008, Portugal, June 25-28 (2008) ISBN: 978-989-95695-3-9 [4] KangHee, L., YoungOh, C., Chang-U.C., DaeHee, K.: The estimation of the functional unit on energy consumption and CO2 emission concerned with construction of building. SB07 Seoul Conference; South Korea (2007) [5] http://www.cmlca.eu [6] Baird, G., Alcorn, A., Haslam, P.: The energy embodied in building materials. IPENZ Transactions (1997) [7] Pinto, J., Varum, H., Cruz, D., Sousa, D., Morais, P., Tavares, P., Lousada, J., Silva, P., Vieira, J.: Tabique Construction Characterization in Douro North Valley, Portugal: A First Step to Preserve this Architectural Heritage. In: Jha, M., Long, C., Mastorakis, N., Bulucea, C.A. (eds.) 2nd WSEAS International Conference on Urban Rehabilitation and Sustainability (URES 2009), Baltimore, USA, November 7-9, pp. 48–53 (2009) ISBN 978-960-474-136-6, ISSN 1790-5095 [8] Silva, B., Correia, J., Nunes, F., Tavares, P., Varum, H., Pinto, J.: Earth Construction: Bird Teaching. In: Jha, M., Long, C., Mastorakis, N., Bulucea, C.A. (eds.) 2nd WSEAS International Conference on Urban Rehabilitation and Sustainability (URES 2009), Baltimore, USA, November 7-9, pp. 72–78 (2009) ISBN 978-960-474-136-6, ISSN 1790-5095 [9] Murta, A., Teixeira, C., Varum, H., Bentes, I., Pinto, J.: Estudo do ganho energético associado à construção de uma habitação unifamiliar com recurso a materiais naturais no contexto português. In: VIII Seminario Iberoamericano de Construcción com Tierra (VIII SIACOT), pp. 151–161. CRIATIAC – FAU – UNT, Tucumán (2009) ISBN EN TRÀMITE [10] CEN: Eurocode 5: Design of timber structures – Part 1-1: General – Common rules and rules for buildings (1998)

Energy Saving Technologies for Conventional Dwellings – A ‘Whole House’ Concept Pat Addy and Dave Webb Leeds Metropolitan University, Leeds

Abstract. The concept of a ‘whole house’ is rarely applied to individual dwellings because each is generally regarded as a loosely connected collection of standalone systems that are provided by different manufacturers with hardly any account being given to interconnectability within the overall concept of a house as a single entity. Most houses have very basic systems for the control of major energy sources including heating and lighting. Electronic control systems requiring only basic skills to install and service can give occupants an ongoing overview of their energy use and facilitate minor changes in habit / lifestyle to allow further savings. The effects and lifetime of these control systems will be improved if they include the ability to be reprogrammed by the user to take into account future improvement projects such as upgrades in insulation or the fitting of double glazing or a change in energy supply. Lifestyle and occupation patterns will have a major effect on energy saving within domestic premises. Any proposed system must be adaptable to suit different living patterns. Interfaces between various components therefore need to be as simple as possible to allow ‘mixing’ of different technologies and possible future developments. It is concluded that a whole house control system that is practical, cost effective, future proof and easy to use is viable but that it could not utilise a single processor design. Instead, a hierarchical system is proposed that presents the possibility of a simple, future proof whole house control system that will accept inputs that are not specified at the time of installation.

1 Introduction The major effect that the majority of the population of the U.K. can have on energy saving is based within their own dwelling place (e.g. Turner and Leyman, 2003; Hymers, 2006, Wilson, 2007) or new build (e.g. Anderson, 2006; Broome, 2007). In this paper we present some of the results obtained from a project to examine the hypothesis that substantial energy savings can be made in a conventionally built house by using appropriate energy production and by the application of relevant and practical electronic monitoring and control systems. Energy saving in the home is often focussed on small isolated areas within the house (Department of Communities and Local Government, 2008a,b). However, there is a need to look at home energy usage as a whole and there is potential for examining and developing a range of energy saving technologies and analysing the true potential and viability of each of the systems that are available and could be developed in the future. Substantial energy savings can be made in domestic premises by using R.J. Howlett, L.C. Jain, & S.H. Lee (Eds.): Sustainability in Energy and Buildings, SIST 7, pp. 45–55. springerlink.com © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2011

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existing energy system developments such as solar water heating (Martin and Watson, 2001), rainwater harvesting (National Statistics Office, 1999) and microwind generation1. There are also others currently in development and likely to be on the market in the next few years such as advanced fuel cells running on many fuel types, not just hydrogen, which produce combined heat and power (CHP)2 Substantial additional savings can be obtained if these developments follow simpler measures such as high levels of thermal insulation and draft proofing. For maximum efficiency and control, any new development must be able to be integrated into existing systems without the necessity and cost of ‘ripping out’ everything and starting again. In addition, if the energy consumption within a dwelling can be monitored and managed through a centralised control system then it should be possible to make a major contribution to efficient energy savings. However, there are problems with establishing a whole house control system. Manufacturers usually design new systems in isolation (if not in secrecy) and they may therefore develop along quite different lines. For example, three totally incompatible designs for video tape recording were developed independently VHS, Betamax and Video 2000. Two of these eventually disappeared but now new systems such as HD, DVD and Blu- ray are currently competing for market position. In the case of household energy efficiency the situation is more complex. To maximise energy saving requires that the use of a range of household appliances should be compatible but the likelihood of different manufacturers accepting this philosophy is extremely remote. However, by developing methods to integrate their functionalities the systems designer can remove incompatibilities. For example, gas boilers have control systems that maintain the internal water temperature and control the gas input valves and similar functions and so to successfully incorporate this into a whole house system requires other relevant external control functions with simple interfaces that are user friendly and make efficient use of all the energy (and fuel) systems available to the house. The system needs to be intelligent enough to switch between conventional fuels and renewable energy when this is available and to be able to interface readily with them.

2 Whole House Control by a Single Central Processor The first idea for integrating separate units and performing whole house control was to adopt a single point system. This would require a large number of input and output lines and a relatively complex main controller, such as a PC.

1

See for example, Warwick Wind Trials. http://www.warwickwindtrials.org.uk/. Accessed April 12 2010 and KR Global. http://www.krlobal.co.kr. Accessed April 12 2020 2 See for example, Ceres Power. http://www.cerespower.com/. Accessed April 12 2010

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Fig. 1. Typical interaction between systems using a single processor

Figure 1 shows the interactions (rather than the actual number of connections) involved in such a single processor system. Figure 1 illustrates that there would need to be many lines of connection for this system to work. When considering the large amount of data and the actions required following the relevant analyses of this data, it became immediately obvious that this approach was totally impractical as each unit would need to be custom built. This would add considerably to the cost and complexity and would make future add-ons difficult because of the reprogramming required for each new feature. The major priorities for any general control system design have to be its ease of use and its adaptability. The user should not need even a basic knowledge of computers to operate the system and the only actions that should be required of them should be to specify simple settings (such as the times that the heating should switch on and off and the required ambient temperature); the occasional switching off of under-floor heating in warmer weather and activating a ‘holiday

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switch’ that would put the system into background use such as frost protection when the house is not occupied for time periods outside the normal work / home lifestyle . Although many control systems are available on the market, only one manufacturer could be found who produced anything similar to what is required of a whole house system.3 The distributor claimed that all manufacturers looked at their products in isolation and made no attempt to try to make them compatible with others or to think of how they might be integrated into any overall control system. Their units are based on a single microprocessor and there are a range of units with different available inputs. All of these are able to take data from a number of thermostats and sensors and control a range of heat sources (such as conventional gas boilers and heat pumps). Currently there are units that can handle two and four different heat sources. However, all of the thermostats and sensors seen were bespoke and designed to work only with their system which could not accept inputs from ‘standard’ devices. One version has a ‘weather compensating feature’ which consists of an outside sensor that the processor compares with the internal temperature and attempts to pre-empt any required energy production. This feature may work reasonably well in a house that has average levels of insulation but it may not be so useful in a well insulated house where heat changes tend to be much slower. 2.1 The Control System The commercially available (Kanmor) system comes with a number of disadvantages – it is installed and programmed by the company (or distributor) and any changes to be made require the unit to be reprogrammed. The facility to expand the system is also very limited and it is also difficult to interface with other manufacturers’ input devices. These concerns were major considerations in the design of the single processor controller presented below. Further complications were generated by a desire to incorporate more control capability. There are other underlying problems with using commercially available electronic products. Firstly, for a number of reasons the product may not be supported by the manufacturer over an extended period of time (Addy, 2006) and, although the device might continue working for many years, if the householder is reliant on the company for services such as programming then upgrades or repairs may become difficult. Secondly, all devices have a limited life span. The more complex the device the shorter its production life is likely to be, particularly if it incorporates integrated circuits. Integrated circuit manufacturers publish end of life lists. In many cases this is because a newer version pin compatible device has become available but in other cases it is because of falling sales due to advances in technology.4 3

4

The manufacturer is Kanmor and is distributed in the UK by Radiant Control Ltd www.radiantcontrol.co.uk. See for example, component details on Microchip Technology Inc. http://www.microchip.com/. Accessed April 12 2010.

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3 A Multi-processor Control System With a multi processor system local decisions are delegated to secondary processors as shown in Figure 2. The main or primary processor is used to control the water heating, space heating and ventilation systems which are the main energy and comfort systems within an average dwelling. Local decisions are made on the basis of viability. As an example, with the solar delegated control the solar controller makes the decision as to whether the temperature is hot enough for use with the hot water or under-floor heating and flags the event. This flag can be polled or set as a result of main processor requesting the data. If this heat energy is not required by the main processor for hot water or under-floor heating the solar controller makes an alternative decision. This decision may be to use the heat for something such as a low temperature Stirling engine5 or a heat store or simply to dump it. If the main processor requires heat for water or space heating it can access the various options of solar, biomass or heat store. If none of these options are available then alternative fuels (such as gas, oil, electricity or heat pump system) can be selected from a priority list set by the householder. The design layout for a hierarchical multiple processor system (figure 2) may initially look as complex or more so than the layout of the single processor system (figure 1) however, the multiple processors allow data to be analysed at a very local level and, as only basic commands, requests and responses are transferred between processors, the main control processor does need to handle large amounts of data. Also, because of the multi processor design, a lot of data is being analysed in parallel rather than serially as in the case of the single processor system. Figure 2 illustrates that systems such as lighting and rainwater collection can be treated as standalone and in addition, battery charging is a primary processor in its own right with interactive inputs from devices such as the wind power controller. Some secondary processors, not shown in figure 2, such as the Stirling engine controller and the solar power controller, can potentially run more efficiently if they have a direct communication / flag interaction. In the case of most input options, for example solar water heating, which sends hot water to the tank when the solar panel is hot and the tank needs heat, the energy is going out of the system i.e. into the water. In the case of the Stirling engine the energy is fed back into the system. Excess heat from the solar panels is fed to the Stirling engine to generate electricity. This electricity must be at a voltage level that is suitable for battery charging. The output of the Stirling engine is dependent on the temperature available from the solar panels. The charging voltage will depend in part on the level of charge of the batteries and if the batteries require charging. The direct interaction can allow the system to run more efficiently. The extra software required for this is very small. 5

A Stirling engine is a heat engine with affixed amount of air or gas in a closed system. The engine has a hot side and a cold side and by moving air between the two sides the air expands and then contracts. This air expansion is then turned into mechanical movement. This type of engine is very efficient but the efficiency increase dramatically with temperature. For more information see Senft (1996).

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Fig. 2. Typical interaction between systems with hierarchical multiple processors

3.1 System Design In a well designed control system, the software and firmware should allow the user to add or remove devices, inputs, outputs and preferences without any need for reprogramming. It should also have an expected life of at least that of the heating system. It may be usual for a large number of people to upgrade their PC on a fairly regular basis but heating systems are expected to run for twenty to thirty years with only minor intervention. Changing a boiler for a more efficient one should not require changing the entire control system. Thermostats, time clocks and sensors should be able to be replaced by generic devices. In addition, the controller itself should potentially be repairable by third parties and the ethical exit strategy for a manufacturing company going out of business, or changing production priorities, should be for them to make the circuit and firmware listings freely available. As a result of the perceived problems with single processors each system was re-examined in standalone mode. The standalone systems were viewed from the point of view of their interaction with other parts of the system. Some systems,

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such as that for rainwater collection, require minimal intervention but others, such as hot water heating, space heating and ventilation, are totally interactive. The latter need to be able to interact not only with each other, but also with systems such as solar panels, biomass burners and heat pumps. They will also be required to make specific types of decisions such as the most efficient and cost effective fuel to use at any particular time. The final system design was hierarchical, employing multiple microprocessors. In this case, a single central processor is used as the ‘master’ decision maker, while secondary processors make ‘local’ decisions under its overall control. It was decided to make certain processors totally autonomous but with the possibility of passing error warnings back to the main control processor. This system is relatively future proof and the addition or removal of component systems should have no affect on the running of the overall system. It was decided to use a series of Programmable Interface Controllers (PICs) as they are able to provide simple, inexpensive, easily programmed alternatives to the standard microprocessor (Smith, 2006). Communication between the processors is on the basis of a series of simple questions and answers which can also be extended to include setting requests from secondary processors for some particular action. The question and answers would take the form of: “Can you provide input?” “Yes” “I have output can you accept?” “No” The questions are transmitted in simple digital form, consisting of a series of bits representing 1s and 0s. The system can use a single input/output (I/O) line for each question and a single I/O for the answer. If more lines are required standard interfacing techniques can be used (see Gadre, 1998). Standard generic devices such as thermostats and temperature sensors can be interfaced to the multiple processor system by the use of simple digital interfaces. These can be programmed by the user to feed information to the main processor on when action is needed. The use of standard thermostats means that the system appears to the user like a ‘normal’ central heating system. The effects of seasonal energy price fluctuations can be optimised by incorporating the possibility for householder input for each possible fuel option. A practical hierarchical main controller is easy to implement with inputs (energy sources) in multiples of eight (the width of the standard small microprocessor buss). It is unlikely that many household will have as many as eight energy sources; therefore the undesignated inputs can be used at a later date. Undesignated inputs enable the system to be made future proof. Intelligent drivers are a further level of the hierarchy. They are processors that respond to a single command and then have the intelligence to carry out the required function. As an example for under-floor heating the main processor provides the command for the underfloor heating and selects the fuel type. The

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intelligent driver then switches the correct valves and pumps and monitors the temperature of water in the secondary under floor tank and the flow and return water temperature.

4 Householder Control The strategies outlined above mean that a relatively simple system can be designed that appears to the user to be a ‘normal’ heating system. It also allows for a number of options to be built in that may not be in use currently but may be included as an option in the future. The speed of the processor is fast compared to the speed of operation of the component parts of the system and the fact that nonexistent options are being polled is of no detriment to the system. For example, in the time that it takes for a water valve to open or close, the processor will have undertaken of the order of 40 million clock cycles. It can be arranged for unused inputs to always return a ‘0’. In this case, if under-floor heating is fitted for example, a convenient switch can be employed to place the input into a ‘do not use’ state when it is not required - such as in summer. However, in periods of expected cold weather the system can be switched to an ‘on’ position as required. The running of the system should appear to be as transparent as possible to the householder. Easy to operate and understand options for control such as time clocks and thermostats and switches or readily programmable devices for fuel selection, under-floor switch and holidays can be incorporated (see figure 3). A holiday switch is useful as a single press can put heating onto background running, switch off the ventilation (except perhaps for times when condensation maybe created by the lower air temperatures could cause a problem) and turn off rainwater harvesting in case cistern overflow occurs when the householder is away. It can also switch on security measures such as simulated occupation by switching light sequence patterns. The lights should be the low voltage type charged from one of the renewable sources. As the only input the system sees is digital then this type of function could be replaced with a time switch or operated remotely via a telephone interface so that the house system is up and running by a specific required time.

Fig. 3. The Householder’s Viewpoint

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The input to the processors can be in the form of thumbwheel switches with ‘0’ to ‘9’ positions. One switch can be used for each potential fuel. If the fuel is not available it will be switched to zero. Fuel types can then also be designated with a priority. If solar hot water is available, it will be the cheapest option and therefore first choice and designated by ‘1’. Different fuel types can then also be associated with other parameters that indicate cost, availability or ‘greenness’. This method gives the householder a simple way of counteracting cost and availability fluctuations. There are other opportunities for energy conservation, efficiency and/or cost savings that can be programmed in to a whole house control system. One such possibility is off-peak electricity. A time clock can be used to provide a digital output so that various options can be easily changed by the householder if times and costs of off peak electricity change. Future expansion can be included by allowing for several additional options. Those that are not fitted or not currently being used can return a ‘0’ availability and will be passed over by the main processor. The installer should not need intensive training for a system off this type and the only extra required should be an understanding of the placing of sensors and setting of temperature levels. Figure 3 illustrates the kind of interface that the user might have with the system. The simpler this interface is the better as it will ensure its proper and efficient use. The system is based on hierarchical control and allows low grade and high grade heat to be used. The hot water can be preheated from a number of sources and ‘topped up’ from the gas boiler or immersion if not already of sufficient temperature.

5 Practical Example of a ‘Typical’ House Layout A typical house layout is shown schematically in figure 4. When using a number of zoned heating areas and various forms of heat transfer such as radiators and under-floor heating together to heat the same zone there can be some difficulty deciding which source the heat originates from.

Fig. 4. Typical layout for a multi input system

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The thermostats can be used to provide overall heating control but there is always a delay with under floor heating because of the heat storing mass and the transfer rate. It is possible to use sensors laid into the floor to measure the temperature of the thermal mass but unless these are laid into tubes so that they can be removed easily there can be problems if a sensor fails. Perhaps the simplest strategy is to supply the under-floor heating with low grade heat about ten degrees above the required temperature and measure the temperatures of the flow and returned water. This will mean that the under-floor heating takes longer to warm up but in a dual radiator and under floor system the latter is usually used at times when long cold spells are expected.

6 Conclusion In this paper we have demonstrated that, when considering the energy usage of a domestic household, it is important to view the house as a whole system rather than a set of individual units. We have also demonstrated how the whole house system can best be controlled hierarchically, using a series of programmable controllers, one of which operates as a router or main controller. This offers a simple means of controlling relatively slow processes, such as energy consumption. In addition, small programmable controllers offer a number of advantages over a single, large central processor. For example, they are inexpensive, offer simple connectivity and future proofing. However, they also require much simpler power supplies and there is not need for cooling fans.

References Addy, P.: Electomechanical Building Blocks, SIP (2006) Anderson, W.: Diary of an Eco-Builder, Green Books (2006) Broome, J.: The Green Self Build Book, Green Books (2007) Department of Communities and Local Government, Greener Homes for the Future (2008a), http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/planningandbuild ing/codeleaflet (accessed April 12, 2010) Department of Communities and Local Government, The Code for Sustainable Homes (2008b), http://www.communities.gov.uk/planningandbuilding/buildingr egulations/legislation/codesustainable/ (accessed April 12, 2010) Gadre, D.V.: Programming the Parallel Port, R&D Books (1998) Hymers, P.: Converting to an Eco-friendly Home. New Holland Publishers (2006) Martin, C., Watson, M.: DTI Sustainable Energy Programme Practical Tests on Solar Water Heating Systems, DTI Publication URN 01/1292 (2001), http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file168126.pdf (accessed April 12, 2010) National Statistics Online, Domestic Water Use 1997-98: Social Trends 31 (1999), http://www.statistics.gov.uk/STATBASE/ssdataset.asp?vlnk=36 53 (accessed April 12, 2010)

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Senft, J.R.: An Introduction to Low Temperature Stirling Engines, Moriya Press (1996) Smith, D.W.: PIC in Practice, Newnes (2006) Turner. R. and Lehmann, P.: The Which Guide to the Energy Saving Home. Which Publications (May 2003) Warwick Wind Trials, http://www.warwickwindtrials.org.uk/ (accessed April 12, 2010) Wilson, A.: The Consumer Guide to Home Energy Savings. New Society Publishers (2007)

Modifying Courtyard Wall Geometries to Optimize the Daylight Performance of the Courtyard Ahmed A. Freewan Assistant Professor, Jordan University of Science and Technology, 22110 Irbid, Jordan

Abstract. A Courtyard in a building regulates its daylight, air movement and thermal interaction with the outdoor environment. The daylight performance of a courtyard depends principally on how the daylight received and delivered into interior spaces. The current research investigates how courtyards vertical surface geometries could improve the daylight in adjacent spaces of the courtyard. The research used Radiance to investigate the impact that vertical walls, inward sloped walls, outward sloped, staggered walls and double layer walls could have on both daylight quantity and quality. Courtyards with inward sloped, inward staggered and double layer walls were found to improve the daylight quality and control the excessive light level, while outward sloped and outward staggered walls increase daylight level.

1 Introduction Using daylighting goes beyond improving the visual environment, to improve human health, increase user productivity, reduce operating and life cycle costs, maintain sustainable development and save non-renewable energy. Daylighting has long been recognized as crucial, and a useful strategy in terms of visual comfort and energy-efficient buildings design (Lam and Li, 1998, Wittkopf et al., 2006, Freewan et al., 2008). Psychologically, occupants prefer natural light as it offers a direct connection with outside, and enhances visual quality, human feeling, and comfort. Daylighting gives the sense of cheeriness and brightness and helps to create healthier and more attractive environments for occupants, and improves their behavior (Li and Lam, 2001, Heschong, 1999 b, Nazzal, 2001) Lighting represents 20-60% of electricity consumption in commercial and office buildings. Using natural daylight for lighting purposes in buildings can therefore offer significant savings in energy consumption for lighting and, consequently, cooling. Daylight produces less heat per lumen compared to the equivalent amount of electric light, therefore it will be a good strategy for reducing cooling loads in buildings (Heschong, 1999 b, Moore, 2000, Johnsen, 1998).

R.J. Howlett, L.C. Jain, & S.H. Lee (Eds.): Sustainability in Energy and Buildings, SIST 7, pp. 57–64. springerlink.com © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2011

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1.1 Courtyard Daylight can be provided by traditional design for a perimeter zone of up to 3-5 m depth (Beltran et al., 1997). Therefore spaces without direct contact need a special design treatments, and daylight devices like courtyards, atriums, light wells or light pipes. Courtyard is a traditional device used for ventilation, daylighting, heat gain control and social functions. Generally, it is used in large buildings to maintain a direct connection with outside. On the other hand atrium is a modern controlled courtyard used in high and large buildings. Littlefair (2002) stated the main characteristics of the atrium’s shape that affect its daylighting performance. Calcagni and Paroncini (2004) investigated many variables of atrium design that could influence the daylight conditions in the adjoining space and the atrium floor. 1.2 Courtyard in Modern Housing Projects The courtyard has become a widespread trend in housing projects and school buildings. In housing projects the courtyard is used to overcome the problem of high density housing problems by using attached or semi attached housing project. Usually large area of glazing is used in such project as the privacy is maintained and the need for natural ventilation and lighting in addition to connection with the outdoor environment. Courtyard creates a meeting point between people; increasing the qualitative value of the indoor spaces. Courtyards in such projects have small areas of 5x5m or 4x4m and floors covered with smooth tiles.

2 Research Statement and Methods The current research is investigating daylighting performance of new courtyard’ walls configurations. This paper is part of an extensive research program aims at developing new type of courtyards for new housing buildings to improve its daylight and thermal performance in summer and winter. It presents a parametric investigation on the effect of different courtyard walls configurations on daylighting. Using courtyard is providing pleasing living environment in summers as it help to control heat gain, provide buildings with natural ventilation and cool the buildings especially in the morning and evening time during daytime. On the contrary using courtyard in winter has negative impact on thermal environment of buildings. It becomes cold space and difficult to be used. Moreover courtyard has bad environment in summer specially at the noon time due to intensive direct sun rays. From daylight point of view it provide an extremely uneven daylighting distribution, causing glare problems close to the façade due to large area of glazing and smooth floor tile. The main problem is that direct sun rays, large glazing area and floor tile are creating uncontrolled excessive daylight level with uneven daylighting distribution.

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2.1 Radiance The research used computer simulations to save time and ease changing of design options. Luminous environment in the interior of a building can be studies either by using Radiosity or Ray-tracing computation method. A well known tool based on the ray-tracing technique is Radiance, which uses the back ray-tracing method. Radiance can easily deal with complex building forms and geometries, diffuse, specular and semi-specular reflection, transmission functions and also modelling advanced lighting redirecting devices like laser-cut panels. Due to its exceptional flexibility; (Greenup and Edmonds, 2004) considered Radiance a highly capable lighting simulation program currently available. Mardaljevic’s (1995, , 1999) showed a good agreement between results from Radiance and actual results for; clear glazing, louvers and lightshelves as long as it use identical sky conditions. Additionally, it has been validated by different researchers in different cases and agreed well with experimental measurements (Greenup and Edmonds, 2004, Freewan et al., 2009, Ochoa and Capeluto, 2006). The research assessed the daylight performance of the courtyard in rooms to north and south facades of the courtyard. The suggested options had been simulated using radiance in March and June under clear sky in order to increase simulations accuracy. The simulation results of each option were compared to a base case; a simple courtyard with vertical walls. Table (1) illustrates all courtyard configurations that have been studied and developed. The table shows three groups of configurations Group (A), Group (B) and Group (C). By and large the first Group depends on changing the vertical angle of the courtyard’ walls to build up new courtyards. The second group depends on wall layering to configure new courtyards. Finally the third one depends on wall staggering to create new courtyards. Table 1. Courtyard Configurations

N

A

B

C

1

2

3

4

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All simulation had been conducted in Irbid_Jordan (latitude; 31.9° North, longitude; 35.9 East). In subtropical regions such as Jordan the daylight is available throughout the year during day time. Figure (1) shows two rooms which the research studied the daylight environment in. Room (A) is a room with an opening toward the north from the courtyard, while the second one (B) has an opening toward the south from the courtyard.

Fig. 1. Plan of the Courtyard and simulated rooms (A) with opening toward North and (B) with opening toward South

3 Results and Discussion Figures (2 and 3) show the results of daylighting performance of the room A in different courtyard configurations in March and June. The results shows that room in buildings with courtyards; A2, B1, B3, C2, C3, and C4 perform better than 2000

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C4

Fig. 3. Results of daylight simulations in room (A) under different courtyard configurations in June

these in buildings with other courtyards type compare to the base case, a courtyard with vertical walls. It is clear that courtyards A2, , B1, B3, C2, C3, and C4 helped to improve the daylight environment in adjacent spaces. On other hand courtyard A1 and C1 extremely increase the illuminance level in simulated rooms which negatively changed the daylighting environment compared to the original case. On the other side the daylight analysis of the room B as seen in figures (4 and 5) showed that courtyards; A2, , B1, B3, C2, C3, and C4 could provide the room with the required illuminance level with attractive environment and view to the courtyard. These types of courtyards improved daylight level by controlling the excessive daylight in the room. The illuminance level reduced to around 500 Lux in case of, B3, C2, C3, and C4 compared to more than 1500 Lux in the base case. Therefore the difference between the illuminance level deep in the room and near windows is reduced which help to improve the daylight quality by increasing the uniformity level. Generally, the results show that courtyards wall configurations could be categorized, based on daylight performances, into three groups. The first group obviously helped to improve the daylight performance by reducing excessive direct light. It controlled the extreme illuminance level in summer and reduce glare compared to the base case, a courtyard with vertical walls. This group includes courtyard forms that reduce the exposed area of the courtyard floor and walls to the direct sun rays during daytime while keep a good connections to outside.

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Room Toward South in March at 10am

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4000 3500 3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0 0.5 m

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Fig. 4. Results of daylight simulation in room (B) under different courtyard configurations in March

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Fig. 5. Results of daylight simulation in room (B) under different courtyard configurations in June

Modifying Courtyard Wall Geometries to Optimize the Daylight Performance

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Therefore inner spaces can be lighted through shaded area. Generally these types’ walls have a horizontal part or more wall layers. The second group negatively affect the daylight performance of the courtyard by extremely increased the illuminance level and glare. These types of configurations increased the exposed area of floor and walls to the direct sun compared to the base case such as A1 and C1. The third group did not offer steady changed to the daylight performance compared to normal courtyard with vertical walls. Configurations like A3 and A4 have better performance in June than that in March. Figure 6 shows around the year results; March, June and December for the courtyards with best performances in the first group. The figure shows how these types of configuration improve the daylight quality by reducing the differences between illuminance level across the room in both sides north and south thus improve the uniformity. It provides more shaded area in summer thus control daylight quantity and improve its thermal performance. June

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Fig. 6. Distribution of illuminance level across the midline in room (B) in December, March and June

4 Conclusion The suggested configurations help to control the illuminance level in the adjacent rooms. Changing walls configuration of the courtyard can improve both daylight quality and quantity in addition to thermal performance of the courtyard. Configurations with horizontal elements or have more than wall layers, like; A2, B1, B3 C3 and C4, can reduce the sunny part of the courtyard in summer which helps to improve its performance from daylight standpoint. From architectural point of view this help to create attractive, pleasing and controlled outdoor space that help to increase opening area and contact with outside for interior spaces. Therefore, interior spaces will have the preferred openness without shading devices like louvers or curtain at the same time the privacy is maintained. These types of configurations are highly recommended for hot climates regions with a clear sky and direct sun rays. Courtyards like A1 and C1 can be used in regions with overcast climates or with low daylight availability as it increase the illuminance level. The results of the current research will be tuned with research program being conducted to investigate thermal performance in summer and winter as well. More studies are needed to investigate the performance of such configuration in large building such as schools and offices.

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References Beltran, L.O., Lee, E.S., Selkowitz, S.E.: optical daylighting systems: light shelves and light pipes. Journal of the Illuminating Engineering Society 20, 91–106 (1997) Calcagni, B., Paroncini, M.: Daylight factor prediction in atria building designs. Solar Energy 76, 669–682 (2004) Freewan, A.A., Shao, L., Riffat, S.: Optimizing performance of the lightshelf by modifying ceiling geometry in highly luminous climates. Solar Energy 82, 343–353 (2008) Freewan, A.A., Shao, L., Riffat, S.: Interactions between louvers and ceiling geometry for maximum daylighting performance. Renewable Energy 34, 223–232 (2009) Greenup, P.J., Edmonds, I.R.: Test room measurements and computer simulations of the micro-light guiding shade daylight redirecting device. Solar Energy 76, 99–109 (2004) Heschong, M. G.: Skylight and Retails Sales, an Investigation into relationship between Daylighting and human Performance. California, the pacific gas and electric company (1999 b) Johnsen, K.: Daylight in buildings, collaborative research in the International Energy Agency (IEA Task 21). Renewable Energy 15, 142–150 (1998) Lam, J.C., Li, D.H.W.: Daylighting and energy analysis for air-conditioned office buildings. Energy 23, 79–89 (1998) Li, D.H.W., Lam, J.C.: Evaluation of lighting performance in office buildings with daylighting controls. Energy and Buildings 33, 793–803 (2001) Littlefair, P.: Daylight prediction in atrium buildings. Solar Energy 73, 105–109 (2002) Mardaljevic, J.: Validation of a lighting simulation program under real sky conditions. Journal of Lighting Research and Technology 27(4), 181–188 (1995) Mardaljevic, J.: Daylight simulation: validation, sky models and daylight coefficients. PhD thesis, De Montfort (1999) Moore, F.: Environmental control systems: heating cooling and lighting. McGraw-hill, Inc., New york (2000) Nazzal, A.A.: A new daylight glare evaluation method: Introduction of the monitoring protocol and calculation method. Energy and Buildings 33, 257–265 (2001) Ochoa, C.E., Capeluto, I.G.: Evaluating visual comfort and performance of three natural lighting systems for deep office buildings in highly luminous climates. Building and Environment 41, 1128–1135 (2006) Wittkopf, S.K., Yuniarti, E., Soon, L.K.: Prediction of energy savings with anidolic integrated ceiling across different daylight climates. Energy and Buildings 38, 1120–1129 (2006)

Research on the Current Condition of Rural Housing and Strategy of Low-Consumption in Northern China Wei Zhao and Hong Jin School of Architecture, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, China

Abstract. The rural housing reconstruction and new construction are proceeding all over the country in northern China, but there is still so much high-energy consumption on rural housing. The rural housing may contribute to reduce energy consumption. The method of questionnaire survey to Heilongjiang Province is offered to recognize the housing current situation. The study found various influence factors of high-energy consumption. This paper presents proposal to improve the consumption of rural housing in northern China. It is suggested that energy conservation in residential buildings must be considered all-around, rather than any resolution in only one direction. Keywords: Rural housing, Energy-saving, Factors of high-consumption, Strategy of low-consumption.

1 Introduction New countryside construction is now in progress; the rural housing reconstruction and new construction are also proceeding all over the country. Although the housing is better than the old one on some aspects of indoor environment, layout, structural design and building materials, there is still so much high-energy consumption on rural housing. The rural housing may contribute to reduce energy consumption. The method of questionnaire survey is offered to find out the influence factors to the high-energy consumption on rural houses. 106 families in the 27 villages are picked up at random, which are of Heilongjiang Province, Jilin Province and Liaoning Province. As part of the survey, the village heads were asked about the general situations, including the economic and the housing conditions. The chosen peasants were surveyed deeply through the methods of interview, questionnaire survey, measurement and photographs to record. The questions include the family composition, family income, basic condition of houses, willingness of housing reconstruction and new energy using and so on.

R.J. Howlett, L.C. Jain, & S.H. Lee (Eds.): Sustainability in Energy and Buildings, SIST 7, pp. 65–72. springerlink.com © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2011

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2 Influence Factors of High-Energy Consumption The investigation found that the influence factors of high-energy consumption are not only the rural houses, the more important is the old ideas and poor knowledge of a few peasants and officials. (1) The peasants have clung to some old concepts, lacking of long-term planning. The northern villages contain vast area of land, and most residential planning is loose. The peasants have constructed houses and courtyards with size too large blindly [1], without consideration of family composition and further development, much less energy conservation. 41.4% of surveyed houses area was more than 100 , 66% of the household with large area has less than 4 members (Table 1). Other operations and equipment facilities have not been reformed in the new houses, following the old ideas.

㎡

Table 1. Cross tabulation of Floor area and the number of family members

1~2 3 4 5 >5 Total

The Num. of Family Members

160 0 3 4 3 0 10

Total 15 40 21 22 8 106

(2) There had been many defects in early stages of design and construction, which may lead to energy waste and cost increase in the course of living. The old rural houses were almost built by the peasants themselves. The experience of building has been inherited from traditions. The construction level was so backward [2]. Lack of organized knowledge in design and construction Fig. 1. The house on the construction lead the poor quality of houses. Many drawbacks existed in the design of plane, elevation, section and envelop enclosure, the choice of materials and the construction site. Therefore, bad living environment and massive energy waste formed the situation gradually. (Figure 1).

Research on the Current Condition of Rural Housing and Strategy of Low-Consumption 67

(3) The thermal insulation performance of exterior wall materials is taken into consideration only in some houses, while the performance of building envelope system is ignored. Some peasants and government officials generally believed that the good thermal insulation performance of exterior wall materials was equal to the performance of the whole house. They put all effort into development of new materials, and ignored the performance of windows, roofs, floors and so on. (4) The rebuilt projects of the existing rural houses were ignored. In many villages, the point of the new countryside construction is demolishing the old houses and building the new ones. 74.5% of rural houses surveyed with good load-bearing structure were suitable for living in (Figure 2). 81.5% of them had non-insulation layers on the exterior walls (Table 2). Therefore, some repair Fig. 2. The existing rural house or replace of components such as windows may be needed, which would be considered as energy-saving rebuild. If there were no rebuild of the existing rural houses, they should still be the sources of high-energy consumption. Table 2. The situation of the external wall insulation in survey The Num. of Houses

Percent (%)

Valid Percent (%)

The External Wall

Insulation

15

14.1

18.5

Insulation

Non-insulation

66

62.3

81.5

Total

81

76.4

100.0

Missing Total

25

23.6

106

100.0

(5) The successful experience of new countryside construction was copied, not following the actual situation. Some government officials used the practical achievement blindly, without the deep analysis and understanding about successful experience. This practice caused to equipment facilities stagnation. For example, the household biogas system in some villages of Northeast had been put into use. However, they didn’t consider about the factor of low temperature in winter. The biogas system had been forced to stop finally, which showed the efforts wasted.

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(6) Certain government officials considered the new countryside construction just as a task. They rushed to complete tasks of building new houses and peasants living in new houses, did not consider the energy conservation (Figure 3). This attitude caused to new energy-saving houses not energy saving.

Fig. 3. The new house with aluminum alloy door

(7) New energy resources and renewable energy resources have been rarely used in Northern China, and the understanding on them need be strengthened. Most households still depended heavily on single traditional energy, abundant new energy resources not being used. The equipment was so simple and inefficiencies, with few safety measures. 61.1% of surveyed peasants had expressed the willingness of increasing a little investment and using green energy resources and efficient equipment (Table 3). Table 3. The willingness of using new energy resources and renewable energy resources The Num. of Household

Percent (%)

Willing to do

58

54.8

61.1

Do not matter

12

11.3

12.6

Do not want to do

25

23.6

26.3

Total

95

89.6

100.0

Rated

Missing Total

11

10.4

106

100.0

Valid Percent (%)

3 Strategy of Low-Consumption This paper presents proposals to improve the rural housing high consumption of energy in northern China. It is advocated that the peasants, governments, architects of working on energy conservation tripartite joint collaboration to point out the trend of construction. (1) The residential planning overall should be compact and reasonable following the rule of economizing on land. To leave space for sustainable development in the villages’ future, the old loose planning should be changed into compact one. The

Research on the Current Condition of Rural Housing and Strategy of Low-Consumption 69

idle land and residential base should be diminished in size appropriately. The houses of centralized models should be designed like Shuangpin and platoon style. The two or more storey buildings may construct in better-developed rural areas. The distance between houses should be reduced on the basis of appropriate spacing of sunshine. (2) The heat delivery surface should be reduced in housing design (Figure 4). The shape coefficient of buildings and the area of external walls outside surface should be reduced. The shape coefficient may be less than 0.6 to the low-density residential buildings in severe cold area of China[3]. Houses adopt multi-depth layout to decrease the heat dissipation and the exterior wall surfaces of rooms in the South. The traditional dwellings have a long history with some reasonable layout. The patterns of plan have been modelized. The daily life spaces are in the South, and the ancillary spaces are in the North. As protections, the storage rooms adjoin the houses, making temperature transition.

Fig. 4. Plane of rural house

(3) Needless thermal loss should be reduced. Improve the thermal insulation performance of each building element, such as roof, exterior wall, ground, entry door and window and so on. Strengthen the thermal insulation performance of components connections, avoiding the thermal bridge [2]. The building envelope should be considered as an entire system. For example, the appropriate window-wall ratio may be helpful for energy saving.

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(4) In line with local conditions, the local green energy resources should be used actively. The experts may work together with the governments to develop new type green building materials, which are made from local and reclaim materials. They may reduce the cost of general material mining and transportation. For example, the straw-bale, which is an ecological and renewable green Fig. 5. The straw-bale and the solid brick insulation material [4], sets a building envelope system and fine insulation in it (Figure 5). The agricultural waste such as rice hull, straw, plant and so on, may be roof insulation materials with low cost. The local renewable energy sources should be also used positively. The single traditional energy form should be changed into energy mix with high efficiency and different combination modes. This method would reduce the consumption of non-renewable energy resource. Local governments would work together with specialists in resources, exploiting the natural energy resources and advantages fully, discussing the effective energy combination methods jointly, developing the new technologies and popularization to villages. The new energy resources and technologies should be suitable for the regional and economic conditions. In addition, they would provide reliable and sustainable energy resources and technical support for the future village construction. (5) Enhance the specialty and preciseness of field construction. The old unorganized construction teams should be changed into special ones, which should be trained by the professional. They may acquaint with condition. The knowledge of building houses and renovating equipment should be popularized among special construction teams. The experience may be an important part of home and comfort improvement. The knowledge and the specialty may avoid poor quality housing and high-energy consumption. (6) The peasants, governments and experts of working on energy conservation tripartite lay the foundation for the collaborative relationship. The experts should strengthen the advocacy of energy saving and sustainable development to the grassroots cadres and masses. The governments may set up schemes to reward those who build energy-saving houses. Local government officials would establish correct energy-saving ideas, and carry through the importance to the peasants. To help the peasants to set up the awareness of energy conservation for the future production and living, the experts

Research on the Current Condition of Rural Housing and Strategy of Low-Consumption 71

and officials would use the plain language they deserve. Financial prizes would be granted to a certain contribution of energy conservation. Local authorities may establish some special advisory and consultative committees. The consultants may be the specialists of rural housing construction or the skilled local farmers. They could lead the peasants to solve the problems and direct the construction on site. The committees may be the rating agencies, which rank the reconstruction or new rural houses. (7) The government and the research institutes would design and construct the rural ecological demonstration projects together, then popularize the suitable ones. The demonstration projects would help to spread the energy-saving houses as good models. The houses not only meet the function needs of daily life, but also satisfy the sustainable development demand in the future. More important is they should save more energy than ever before. At beginning of design, the architects should survey the needs, the preferences and the living habits of the local peasants comprehensively. They must design the energy-saving houses according the actual natural and economic environment with keeping the traditions. The authorities should be efforts to tie in with the architects, providing detailed information and data. Kinds of houses would be built with different area or different layout. The process of designing, choosing materials, construct of building, heating methods and energy resources used may take into consideration according to the local conditions. The construction of demonstration houses must be based on construction drawings strictly. The local government officials and experts should supervise the whole process of construction. It may avoid a negative impact because of bad construction. It is necessary to compare a normal rural house with the energy-saving one, including indoor thermal comfort, energy consumption, construction cost and so on. The peasants could choose one demonstration house according to the results of comparison. Funds would be granted to the people who may construct or rebuild their houses. Furthermore, the process would help them build their awareness of energy-saving and sustainable development. (8) The existing rural houses should be rebuilt. Simple repair and components replace would improve the energy situation. There are many methods, such as increasing the insulation layers for the non-insulation, replacing the windows of better insulation performance, using high-efficient equipment and so on.

4 Conclusions It is suggested that energy conservation in residential buildings must be considered all-around, rather than any resolution in only one direction. Saving energy should be considered from the effective ways of residential plan, housing design, structural joint and construction, adjusting measures to local conditions and reducing energy consumption on the basis of function. Functionality, durability, aesthetics, safety,

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housing costs and operation consumption of rural houses should be evaluated comprehensively. The propaganda of energy saving policy and practice of conservation demonstration projects also should be taken into accounts. The government, the peasants and the experts would establish the well cooperative relations, which ensure substantial energy conservation housing implementation. Acknowledgments. Project Supported by “National Major Project of Scientific and Technical Supporting Programs Funded by Ministry of Science & Technology of China(2006BAJ04A03-02)”.

References [1] Leng, H., Jin, H., Yuan, Q.: Ecological design concept in county planning. Journal of Harbin University of Civil Engineering and Architecture 2, 102–105 (2000) [2] Zhao, H., Jin, H.: Research on the local optimum eco-technologies of rural housing in the chill region of China. Journal of Harbin Institute of Technology 2, 235–237 (2007) [3] Jin, H., Zhao, H.: Energy efficient design strategy for low-density houses in severe cold area of China. Journal of Harbin Institute of Technology 9, 1500–1503 (2006) [4] Jin, H., Enard, A., Celaire, R.: Design and practice on rural eco-house in Northern China. Architecture Journal 9, 24–26 (2005)

The Design Study of Energy-Saving Rural House in Rural Areas in Heilongjiang Province, China Xin-yu Zhang and Hong Jin School of Architecture, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, Heilongjiang, China

Abstract. This paper takes Heilongjiang province, the coldest province in China, as an example to study one energy-saving rural housing form which is suitable for rural areas in Heilongjiang province. In order to make the rural housing becomes more comfortable, healthy, energy efficient and environment friendly. Through the calculation of the computer software, this energy-saving and sustainable housing which is built according to this research can reduce the energy consumption by 53.4%. This will promote the sustainable development of rural housing in the severe cold region of China. Keywords: the severe cold region; energy-saving and sustainable rural housing design; Heilongjiang province.

1 Introduction Heilongjiang province is one of the coldest provinces in China. It located in China's northeast frontier, belongs to temperate and cold temperate monsoon climate. In Heilongjiang province the winter is very long and cold, while the summer is short and cool. The average temperature is -32 ~-17 in January and 16-23 in July [1]. Meanwhile, agriculture is the major industry in Heilongjiang. There are 0.99 million hectares of arable land, accounting for 21.7% of the total area in the province. According to census, the number of rural permanent population would reach 17.96 million in the end of 2008. The number of rural population would take up 46.97%. Due to the limitation of the geographical and climatic conditions, most of villages are underdevelopment. The topic which is how to enhance the rural living quality and save the consumption of the house is always been discussed and studied. Recent years, Heilongjiang province proposes a lot of policies to respond the call of the State that "building a new countryside". Most of these policies are beneficial to the villagers. Hence, in Heilongjiang province, it is necessary to design the house which is comfortable, energy-saving, and sustainable.

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℃

2 Investigations Through the investigation of local typical traditional rural housing in Heilongjiang Province, the traditional rural housing has following characteristics: R.J. Howlett, L.C. Jain, & S.H. Lee (Eds.): Sustainability in Energy and Buildings, SIST 7, pp. 73–82. springerlink.com © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2011

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Fig. 1. Local typical traditional rural

2.1 Site One-storey and single-family living form is very common in the rural areas in Heilongjiang province (figure 1). And the common plan of the traditional rural house is shown in the figure 1. But the basic functions of the housing are not perfect. In recent years, some villagers begin to rebuild their house themselves. They build bathroom in their houses just like the house in the city. Fig. 2. The indoor bathroom Fig. 3. The kitchen But after a while, the function of bathroom has been changed into storage or shower room. (figure 2) That is because the drainage facilities are imperfect, and the hygienic conditions are very poor. In the kitchen, straw which is the basic cooking and heating fuel lay in a heap on the floor. This condition can not only cause fire easily, but also impact the living environment of the room. (figure 3)

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2.2 External Envelope Structures Traditional housing uses panels of brickwork for the wall. The total thickness of the wall is 500mm, and there is no insulation. The thickness of internal wall is 240mm or 120mm.There is no insulation on the roof and floor. Timber is often used for window frames and front doors. There are two windows or two doors in each opening to reduce the heat losses as much as possible. 2.3 Heating System The common heating methods in Heilongjiang are heated-Kang (figure4, 5), heated-wall (figure6) and local heater (figure7). Compared with the urban heating system, in rural areas in order to improve the indoor temperature, the villagers always heat the heated-Kang and heated-wall. This method belongs to intermittent heating, and the indoor thermal stability is not very good, especially to those houses without insulation structures.

Fig. 4. Heated-Kang

Fig. 5. Cooking stove

Fig. 6. Heated-wall

Fig. 7. Local heater

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3 Design Study 3.1 Site Selection The location of building is a major contributor to internal climate control. Many aspects must be considered, including building orientation, building interval, main prevailing wind direction in winter and the external climate. Heilongjiang locates in severe cold region, so it is crucial to keep house warm in winter. As mentioned previously, the location of building also affects the internal climate. The building faces south, and make sure there is nothing blocking the sunlight by makes a good control of the building interval. To reduce the effect of the prevailing wind on the internal climate of building, windows are usually not set in the west and east, and control the windows areas which are in the north. Meanwhile, the placement of the landscaping is also very important to sustainable building design. Also control the distance between vegetation and the main buildings. The ideal condition is that the vegetation can block out some sunlight in summer and don’t in winter. Plants also can be used as windbreaks that are placed toward the north, west, and east. It can cut the costs of heating. (figure 8~9)

Fig. 8. The bird’s-eye view of the whole energy-saving sustainable building

Fig. 9. Perspective view

3.2 Plan Design Due to the living pattern of the villagers is very different from the people who live in the city, the habits and customs of the villagers, the relative of each room, and the indoor thermal environment of different room must be considered thoroughly when doing the energy–saving and sustainable hosing design in rural areas. In designing it is important to take all factors into consideration to reasonably place the function subarea via different thermal environment. Each room has its different requirement of the thermal environment. The rooms which require lower thermal comfort temperature can be placed in the north of the building, such as kitchen, storage and corridor. Those rooms make a transitional space to reduce the effect of cold air

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which infiltrate from windows, doors and external walls in the north. Simultaneously, put the rooms, such as bed room, living room, which need higher thermal comfort temperature in the south to make sure they get more sunshine to keep the room warmer enough in the winter and reduce the heat loss at the same time. This plant design can not only make a comfortable indoor thermal climate and maximize the energy efficient. (figure 10)

Fig. 10. The first plan of the energy-saving house

3.3 Shape Coefficient

Fig. 11. Sectional drawing

The shape coefficient is one of the most important factors which affect the energy consumption of the buildings. Some studies indicate that huge shape coefficient is very adverse to energy-saving. To do the sustainable rural housing design, the town-house form is chosen and increased the depth of the

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building. Through the calculation and the simulation of the PKPM, this house’s shape coefficient is 0.54. It conforms to the requirements of the standard of energy consumption. figure 11~12)

（

Fig. 12. Elevation views (left: the south face of the building; right: the north face of the building)

3.4 Heating System and the External Envelope Insulation Structures In the severe cold region of China, buildings consume 30%~40% of the nation’s energy. The heating consumption accounts for 56% of the building. [2] It is very important to choose appropriate heating methods and external envelope insulation structures. Heating System. Choose the common traditional heating methods: heated Kang and heated wall. External Envelope Insulation Structures. The external envelope insulation structures mainly include external walls, doors, windows, roof and ground. Some studies indicate that the external walls account for 40% of the thermal losses, 20% of the roof[3]. So the external envelope insulation structures are the critical item in building energy-saving. External Walls. External walls are the largest heat losses areas of building. Instead the traditional single-material walls, the energy-saving building choose compound-material walls. In rural areas villagers heated the heating facilities three times one day. This belongs to intermittent heating system. And villagers always go out frequently every day. So the indoor temperature should be limited it in 14 ~18 [4] .The specific practice of construction is that make the insulation layer (140mm strawboard which is local material in Heilongjiang) enveloped the main structure. And add 120mm brick to protect the insulating layer. This method can improve the energy-saving efficient and the effect of the insulation is very well. (figure 13-1)

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Windows and Doors. In designing, the high-performance windows with double glazing can reduce leakage and increase energy efficient. A foyer is very necessary too.

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Roof and Ground. The insulation of the roof (figure 13-2) and ground (figure 13-3) is also very important.

13-1: the detail drawing of external wall

13-2: the detail drawing of roof

Fig. 13. The detail drawing of the external walls, roof, and ground

3.5 Renewable Energy Sources Compared with urban, solar energy resource in Heilongjiang rural areas is very rich. The design of energy–saving and sustainable rural hosing must consider the utilization of the renewable energy sources. Due to economic reasons and technologies of the Heilongjiang’s rural areas is limited, passive solar heated ways is chosen. The most common way is using the sunshine directly: The rooms which located in the south of the house can take advantage of the direct sunlight. During the day, the floors, internal walls and furniture get and store energy from the sunshine. When night is coming, the temperature of the rooms begins to drop. At that time, the components begin to release energy to improve the inner temperature. Another effective method is set up an additional sun room out the south face of the building. It can effectively reduce the effect of the cold air in winter night. In this design, expand the windows’ areas in the south face, while reduce the north’s. And place the additional sun room which is detachable out of the bedroom. In summer, in order to avoid the temperature is too high in the south, the glasses or transparent plastics can be removed. Liana can be planted near the frames, and make these plants climb on the timber frames. It can not only beautify the external environment of the building, but also shield sunshine to reduce the inner temperature. (figure 14) In winter, glasses or transparent plastics can be installed on the timber frames. It becomes a sun room which can improve the inner thermal comfort and save the energy efficient. (figure 15)

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Fig. 14. In summer, it can shield some

Fig. 15. In winter, it becomes a sun room to keep warm

3.6 Calculation of Energy Efficient Calculate the energy efficient of the sustainable rural hosing, via the computer software PKPM, to verify the effectiveness and rationality of it. Energy Consumption Calculation of the Building. According to the parameters of the buildings and the Standards of energy-saving design for civil construction (part of heating residential building) (JGJ26-95), and the calculation and simulation of the computer, the amount of annual energy consumption of the local typical traditional rural housing and energy-saving sustainable rural housing can be seen as table 1: Table 1. Energy Consumption Calculation of the Building Build Mode Local traditional rural housing Energy-saving and sustainable rural housing

Energy Consumption Indicator

Heat Consumption Coal Consumption of Heating Heat Consumption Coal Consumption of Heating

Total Energy Consumption

Unit Energy Consumption

5983.57 5073.51

97.77 82.9

8901.65 7547.77

46.54 39.46

Assessment of the Building Energy Efficient. The design indicator of the local traditional rural house and energy-saving ones can be seen as table 2:

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Table 2. The results of the Building Energy Efficient Results

Build Mode

Design Indicator

Local traditional rural housing Energy-saving and sustainable rural housing

Heat Consumption 97.77 46.54

Coal Consumption of Heating 82.9 39.46

Energy Consumption. It can be clearly seen that compared with the local traditional rural housing, the energy consumption of the sustainable house can be saved 53.4%, and it has already reached the national standard Energy Consuption requirements. This building not only saves energy, pro120 97.77 82.9 100 tects the natural environment, 80 46.54 39.46 60 but also satisfies the basic 40 Coal 20 living requirements of the 0 Consump tion of villagers. It is worth to popuLocal energy-saving Heating larizing in the rural areas traditional rural housing Heat Consump rural housing of Heilongjiang province. tion (figure 16) Fig. 16. Energy consumption

4 Conclusions This mode of sustainable rural housing can save energy efficiently. Through the calculation and simulation of the PKPM, it can be seen clearly that if the rural hosing is designed by this way, the heat consumption will be reduced more than 50%. Simultaneously, the residential environment might be more comfortable and healthy. It also can reduce the of construction costs. Compared with the traditional rural housing, the total cost of the energy-saving housing increases less than 10%. This will promote sustainable and energy-saving development of rural housing in the severe cold region of China. Acknowledgments. Project Supported by “National Major Project of Scientific and Technical Supporting Programs Funded by Ministry of Science & Technology of China(2006BAJ04A03-02)”.

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References [1] Standards of energy-saving design for civil construction (part of heating residential building) (JGJ26-95) [2] Zong-shan, W., Yang, Z., Mu-lin, D., Jun-liang, Z.: Analysis of change and developing of house pattern and heating way in rural residence of Changchun Region. New energy & environment (8) (2009) [3] Hua, Z., Hong, J.: Research on the local optimum eco-technologies of rural housing in the chill region of China. Journal of Harbin University of C. E. & Architecture (2007) [4] Hong, J., Hua, Z.: Energy conservation design of village residence in severe cold region. Journal of Harbin University of C. E. & Architecture 6 (2001)

Numerical and Experimental Study of the Natural Convection in a Tall Closed Cavity Jesús Benito Pérez Valenzuela1, Armando Piña Ortiz2, Jesús Fernando Hinojosa Palafox2, and Rafael E. Cabanillas López2 1

Department of Civil Engineering and Mines, University of Sonora, Hermosillo, Sonora, México e-mail: [email protected] 2 Department of Chemical Engineering and Metallurgy, University of Sonora, Hermosillo, Sonora, México e-mail: [email protected]

Abstract. One of the heat transfer mechanisms in the cavity of the hollow concrete block is the natural convection. The cavity formed by concrete blocks placed in walls, has a geometric ratio of 20:1 for common blocks of 0.1 m width. The thermal gradients applied are representatives of the boundary conditions in a wall exposed to weather conditions in a desert climate. Experimental and numerical convective heat transfer coefficients are presented and compared. The numerical flow and temperature pattern, obtained with CFD software Fluent 6.3 are discussed.

1 Introduction The envelope of a building or house controls the indoor environment in terms of light, temperature and sound. From the standpoint of heat, its characteristics determine the magnitude of heat that will flow into the interior. One of the materials most used in construction of walls is the hollow concrete block, which once placed form a vertical tall closed cavity which presents the heat transfer by natural convection. There are studies in the literature of natural convection in tall closed cavities, which are described briefly next. Pérez-Segarra et al. (1995) numerically studied a two-dimensional tall cavity with an aspect ratio of 30, using different variations of the k-ε turbulence model. Shunichi y Wakitani (1998) conducted a numerical study of two-dimensional turbulent natural convection of air in a differentially heated tall cavity. The results were obtained using the finite difference method for a wide range of Rayleigh number (103≤Ra≤106) and aspect ratio (10≤A≤24), covering the transition from a unicellular to a multicellular flow pattern in the steady state. Betts y Bokhari (2000), made an experimental study of natural convection of air in a differentially heated closed tall cavity (2.18 m high, 0.076 m wide and 0.52 m depth), the results obtained with temperature differences between the

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vertical walls of 19.6oC and 39.9oC, corresponding to Rayleigh numbers based on the width of 0.86x106 y 1.43x106. Zhu and Yang (2003) studied the transient natural convection in a tall cavity with laminar flow, the aspect ratio of the cavity was 16 and the Prandtl number of the cavity was 0.71; is reported the presence of multicellular flows for various values of the Rayleigh number. Manz (2003) analyzed the heat transfer by natural convection of air in vertical rectangular cavities, such as those found in double facades of buildings, with aspect ratios of 20, 40 and 80 using the numerical code Flovent; comparison with experimental correlations for the Nusselt number showed deviations less than 20%. Zhou et al. (2004) conducted a numerical study of transient turbulent natural convection in an elongated cavity closed with two different Rayleigh numbers (Ra=0.86x106 and Ra=1.43x106), results were obtained with the software PowerFLOW using the Lattice-Boltzmann algorithm and were compared with experimental data reported in the literature with a good approximation. Xamán et al. (2005) numerically studied the laminar and turbulent natural convection in a two-dimensional tall cavity with different aspect ratios, reporting Nusselt number correlations for each aspect ratio. Wright et al (2006), studied experimentally the natural convection of air in a vertical tall cavity using smoke patterns and interferometry, covering Ra numbers between 4850≤Ra≤54800 which concluded that the core flow becomes chaotic and acquired characteristics of three dimensional flow for 104≤Ra≤5x104. Xamán et al. (2008) quantified the effect of surface thermal radiation on turbulent natural convection in tall cavities, a parametric study was conducted by varying the Rayleigh number in the range 109-1012, the aspect ratio of 20, 40 and 80 and the emmisivity between 0.0-1.0; they found that surface radiation does not significantly influence flow patterns in the cavity. Chico et al. (2008) performed numerical simulations for the prediction of turbulent flow by natural convection in cavities, using different turbulence models with two equations, the study was intended to show the generality, precision and characteristics of each model for natural convection. This paper presents numerical and experimental heat transfer by natural convection in a closed tall cavity with aspect ratio of 20, as presented in the building systems based on hollow concrete blocks. Due to the size of the system being considered in this study, it is considered that the flow regime of the fluid (air) in the system is turbulent.

2 Physical Model The study of heat transfer by natural convection will be carried out in a closed tall cavity with a height (H) of 1.00 m, length (L) of 1.00 m and width (W) of 0.05 m, the cross section is presented in Figure 1. The system consists of a vertical wall that receives a uniform and constant heat flux ( q′′ ), while the opposite wall is maintained at a uniform and constant temperature, the four remaining walls are thermally insulated. The thermal fluid is air.

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g

H

q"

Tsc

y x W Fig. 1. Physical model of the closed tall cavity

3 Description of the Experimental Setup An experimental setup was built to perform calorimetric tests based on standard ASTM C-177, using a test box with adiabatic cover and air-tight seal (Figure 2). The device consists of the following components: a) b)

c)

Heat removal system. It consists mainly of two parts, a plate heat exchanger placed inside the test cabinet and a Cole-Parmer temperature bath model 1197P that uses water as working fluid. Heat supply system. It consists of a flexible electrical resistance with a silicone cover, with dimensions of 36 "(91,44 cm) x 39.75" (100,965 cm), the resistance is in contact with a aluminum plate for better distribution of heat across the hot face of the cavity. The electrical resistance is connected to Agilent power supply model E3632A that allow varying the heat flux in the wall. Temperature monitoring and data acquisition system. The temperature values were obtained with type K thermocouples. They were connected to an Agilent acquisition system model 34970A and a personal computer. The sensors monitor the temperatures of hot and cold surfaces of the cavity.

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Fig. 2. Experimental setup

4 Numerical and Experimental Methodology The numerical results were obtained with the CFD software Fluent 6.3, it is based on the finite volume method to numerically solve the fluid dynamics governing equations. The SIMPLEC algorithm was applied to couple momentum and continuity equations. The k-ε standard turbulence model was used (Ince and Launder, 1989). The convective terms were discretized with the MUSCL scheme (Van Leer, 1979). In order to determine the appropriate mesh size for the parametric study into the cavity, a mesh independence study was conducted considering the following conditions: heat flux of 150 W and a cold wall temperature of 288 K. The value of average Nusselt number in the cavity becomes independent of the size of the mesh using 100 nodes in the vertical direction and 50 nodes in the horizontal direction (5000 nodes in total). To obtain experimental results, the cavity was instrumented with nine thermocouples on an aluminum foil attached to the electrical resistance (hot surface) and nine thermocouples on the heat exchanger coated with aluminum (cold area), plus two thermowells within the polystyrene envelope. The experiments started by setting a constant temperature of 15 °C in the water bath and a constant heat flux with the power supply, five experimental heat fluxes were applied (16.6, 37.6, 66.8, 104.5 and 150 W). The steady state is achieved within 24 hours when the standard deviation of the last hundred data is within ± 0.06 °C per channel.

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The uncertainty of the experimental results was obtained in accordance with the standard NMX-CH-140-2002. The formulation incorporates the uncertainty of every variable and is given by: ⎛ ∂h ⎛ ∂h ⎞ ⎛ ∂h ⎞ ⎛ ∂h ⎛ ∂h ⎞ ⎛ ∂h ⎞ ⎛ ∂h ⎞ ⎞ uh = ⎜ uT SC ⎟ + ⎜⎜ uθ σ uT SH ⎟ + ⎜ uW ⎟ + ⎜ u L ⎟ + ⎜ uV ⎟ + ⎜ u I ⎟ + ⎜ ⎝ ∂V ⎝ ∂I ⎠ ⎝ ∂W ⎝ ∂L ⎠ ⎠ ⎠ ⎝ ∂T SH ⎝ ∂T SC ⎠ ⎠ ⎝ ∂θσ 2

2

2

2

2

2

⎞ ⎟ ⎟ ⎠

2

The terms in brackets are the sensitivity coefficients of the dependent variables with regard to the independent variables (measurements), multiplied by the uncertainty associated with them. The last term represents the influence of random errors in the estimation of uncertainty, estimated in terms of repeatability and reproducibility of the experiment.

5 Results and Discussion The numerical results were obtained reproducing the experimental conditions. Figure 3 shows the flow patterns (streamlines) in the central plane of the cavity for three different heat fluxes: 16.6 W, 66.8 W and 150 W, it can be seen that the flow

16.6 W

66.8 W Fig. 3. Streamlines

150.0 W

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16.6 W

66.8 W

150.0 W

Fig. 4. Isotherms

pattern for the three heat fluxes is very similar, the fluid flows along the shape of the cavity in the clockwise direction, forming a elliptical vortex, the values of the streamlines indicate that the fluid in the center of cavity is almost stagnated. Figure 4 shows the temperature field (isotherms) in the central plane of the cavity for the three heat fluxes considered, it is shown that are very similar for three cases, a pattern that indicates the formation of thermal boundary layers on the vertical walls vertical, with nearly vertical isotherms in the center of the cavity, indicating that in this region that heat transfer occurs mainly by diffusion. The temperature values increase with the heat flux. The corresponding Rayleigh numbers (Ra) together with the experimental and numerical average Nusselt numbers (Nu) and convective coefficients (h) are reported in Table 1. The Rayleigh number values are in the range 7.75×10104.73×1011, indicating a turbulent flow regime inside the tall cavity. However the maximum percentage difference between experimental and numerical Nusselt numbers is 9.7 % (for 16.6 W) whereas the minimum is 3.02 % (for 104.5 W). A set of correlations for the average Nusselt number as a function of Rayleigh number was obtained:

Numerical and Experimental Study of the Natural Convection in a Tall Closed Cavity

Nuexp=42.6409+1.228×10-4 Ra1/2

89

(r2=0.997)

Nufluent=34.2041+1.298×10-4 Ra1/2

(r2=0.993)

The comparison between the experimental and numerical heat transfer convective coefficients (considering the experimental uncertainty) is shown in Figure 5. It can be seen that only one numerical value is outside the experimental uncertainty. Table 1. Average Nusselt numbers and convective coefficients for different Rayleigh numbers and heat flux Heat flux (W)

Ra

Nuexp

Nufluent

hexp

hfluent 2

2

(W/m K)

(W/m K)

16.6

7.75x10

10

76.2

68.8

1.98

1.79

37.5

1.63x10

11

93.1

89.6

2.42

2.33

66.8

2.64x10

11

106.5

100.0

2.77

2.6

104.5

3.71x10

11

115.8

112.3

3.01

2.92

4.73x10

11

127.7

123.8

3.32

3.22

150

Fig. 5. Comparison between experimental and numerical convective coefficients

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6 Conclusions In this paper the heat transfer by natural convection in a tall closed cavity was studied. It can be concluded the following: 1. The flow pattern predicted by the numerical simulation show an elliptic vortex inside the cavity with a fluid core almost stagnated. 2. The numerical temperature field indicates the formation of two boundary layers near the walls with heat flux and constant temperature. Also a central region with almost vertical isotherms. 3. The percentage differences between the experimental and numerical average Nusselt numbers are in the range 3.02 % (for 104.5 W) and 9.7 % (for 16.6 W). 4. The numerical average convective coefficients are close to the experimental values when the experimental uncertainty is considered.

References Perez-Segarra, C.D., Oliva, A., Costa, M., Escanes, F.: Numerical experiments in turbulent natural and mixed convection in internal flows. International Journal of Numerical Methods of Heat and Fluid Flow 5, 13–33 (1995) Wakitani, S.: Flow patterns of natural convection in an air-filled vertical cavity. Physics of fluids 10, 1924–1928 (1998) Betts, P.L., Bokhari, I.H.: Experiments on turbulent natural convection in an enclosed tall cavity. International Journal of Heat and Fluid Flow 21, 675–683 (2000) Zhu, Z.J., Yang, H.X.: Numerical investigation of transient laminar natural convection of air in a tall cavity. Heat and Mass Transfer 39, 579–587 (2003) Manz, H.: Numerical simulation of heat transfer by natural convection in cavities of facade elements. Energy and Buildings 35, 305–311 (2003) Zhou, Y., Zhang, R., Staroselsky, I., Chen, H.: Numerical simulation of laminar and turbulent buoyancy-driven flows using a lattice Boltzmann based algorithm. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 47, 4869–4879 (2004) Wright, J.L., Jin, H., Holland, K.G.T., Naylor, D.: Flow visualization of natural convection in a tall, air filled vertical cavity. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 49, 889–904 (2006) Xamán, J., Álvarez, G., Lira, L., Estrada, C.: Numerical study of heat transfer by laminar and turbulent natural convection in tall cavities of facade elements. Energy and Buildings 37, 787–794 (2005) Xamán, J., Hinojosa, J., Flores, J., Cabanillas, R.: Effect of the surface thermal radiation on turbulent natural convection in tall cavities of façade elements. Heat and Mass Transfer 45, 177–185 (2008) Albets-Chico, X., Oliva, A., Perez-Segarra, C.D.: Numerical experiments in turbulent natural convection using two-equation eddy-viscosity models. Journal of Heat Transfer 130, 1–11 (2008) Ince, N.Z., Launder, B.E.: On the computation of buoyancy-driven turbulent flows in rectangular enclosures. International Journal of Heat and Fluid Flow 10, 110–117 (1989) Van Leer, B.: Towards the ultimate conservative difference scheme. Journal of Computational Physics 32, 101–136 (1979)

Numerical Study of Heat Transfer by Free and Forced Convection in a Ventilated Cavity Norma Alejandra Rodríguez Muñoz1, Jesús Fernando Hinojosa Palafox1, and Karl Kohlhof 2 1

Department of Chemical Engineering and Metallurgy, University of Sonora, Hermosillo, Sonora, México e-mail: [email protected] 2 Institute of Automation Technology, Cologne University of Applied Sciences

Abstract. In this paper the heat transfer by free and forced convection in a ventilated cavity is studied. The cavity is used to model a room, where a wall is receiving a uniform heat flux (like the one supplied by sun). In order to obtain the numerical results, the CFD´s software Fluent 6.3 was used and because the turbulent nature of the flow in the cavity, the k-ε turbulence model with a nonuniform grid was applied. Different values of heat flux and inlet air velocities are tested and the flow patterns and thermal fields are discussed. The heat transfer coefficients for engineering calculations are presented in nondimensional form.

1 Introduction In the thermal design of buildings, passive cooling is a strategy that seeks to provide comfort conditions inside homes and buildings using natural ventilation, with a consequent saving of energy to reduce or avoid the use of artificial air conditioning. However it is known that a set of physical environmental variables determine the thermal sensation of a man, these variables are the temperature, speed of the air and humidity, by measuring these parameters in a room, it is possible to operate the climate control system by establishing the right conditions in order to the majority of people feel a comfortable thermal environment (Fanger, 1972). There are a variety of commercial sensors for measuring individual physical variables that determine the comfort designed to meet the requirements of international standards relating to thermal comfort. Particularly the measurement of air velocity is complex for low values, such as those existing in the interior of conditioned rooms. The computational numerical studies are helpful to simulate the global behavior of thermal systems and consequently optimize the process of localization of a climate sensor inside buildings. There are numerical studies in the literature corresponding to ventilated cavities, which are briefly described next. Raji and Hasnaoui (1998) studied the heat transfer by mixed convection in a ventilated cavity with a uniform heat flux from the side, the proposed mathematical model was solved for ranges of 103≤Ra≤5x106 and 5≤Re≤ 5000; the

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relative height of the openings is kept constant (B ~ h'/ H' ~ 1/4). The effect of these parameters on heat transfer and fluid flow was examined, and useful correlations are proposed by considering air as the working fluid (Pr = 0.72). Sinha, et al. (2000) obtained the temperature and velocity profiles in a cavity heated by a flow of warm air, introduced at various positions, considering a steady laminar flow, and incompressible fluid under the Boussinesq approximation. Raji and Hasnaoui (2000) numerically studied the mixed convection heat transfer in ventilated cavities submitted to a constant heat flux using the Navier-Stokes equations with the Boussinesq approximation; results in terms of streamlines and isotherms are produced for different values of the governing parameters, the Rayleigh number 103ŝƋƵŝĚ^ĂŵƉůĞ ůĞĐƚƌŽĚĞ

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Tools and Techniques for Intelligent Characterization of Fuels

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Fibre Optic Sensor The Fibre Optic sensor shown in Figure 5 was used to determine the degree of adulteration of petrol and diesel by kerosene [10]. Adulteration of the base fuel caused a change in the refractive index and evanescent wave absorption in samples. The technique had stated advantages of: simplicity, safety, and sensitivity, whilst being possible to implement as a compact test system. On the downside, cost might be an issue on mass vehicle application. KƉƚŝĐĂů&ŝďƌĞ

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4 Analysis and Fusion of Complex Data Principal Component Analysis Principal Component Analysis is the rotation and scaling of data to reduce the dimensionality of data. The result is enhanced visualisation and simplification of complex data, both for human and computer interpretation; the relative importance

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of the simplified data is also stated. There are few disadvantages to the use of PCA, apart from the obvious loss of some data which was arguably not required anyway. Figure 6 shows a simulation of PCA in action, where the first two principal components would have been extracted from complex multi-dimensional data; the displayed two dimensions are responsible for 91.2% and 5.2% of the variation in the complex data, and the ‘useful’ five data clusters may now be clearly seen in just two dimensions. Data Processing and Fusion by Neural Network A neural network can perform a highly useful reduction of dimensionality in electronic nose and tongue systems, which inherently produce multi-dimensional data. In addition, other sensors may contribute information by way of data fusion, i.e. adding data from other sensors to extra inputs to the neural network. The neural network can effectively add ‘intelligence’ to sensing systems by undertaking a decision-making process which automatically reduces dimensionality of the input data. For safety-critical operation, neural networks are not generally suitable due to their operation in high-dimensional feature space; this is because their operation can only be visualised if dimensionality of input is less than, or equal to, three dimensions. Figure 7 depicts the architecture of the most commonly encountered type of neural network: a Multi-Layer Perceptron, [11], [12]. džϭ s   d K Z

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Tools and Techniques for Intelligent Characterization of Fuels

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5 Implementation In respect of implementation of Intelligent Fuel Characterization, three questions need to be answered: (1) Which sensor(s), (2) Which fuel delivery method, and (3) Which signal processing to use? Experimental work has commenced and sensors are being evaluated, initially as separate data sources. On completion of this phase of the work, the need for data processing, and data fusion, as applicable, will be investigated. The choice of sensor(s) is expected to determine the fuel sample delivery method, to a large extent. The sensor(s) could be contained in a chamber in the fuel line or built into the fuel tank for measurement of the bulk fuel properties; either way there may be maintenance issues, depending on the sensor(s) used. Figure 8 depicts a possible Intelligent Fuel Characterization system employing data fusion in combination with three sensor groups. &ƵĞů/Ŷ&ƌŽŵdĂŶŬ

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6 Conclusions •

• •

This paper has introduced the concept of Intelligent Fuel Characterization; a means by which an internal combustion engine may be made aware of the physical and chemical properties of the fuel that it is about to combust. A range of potentially suitable modern sensor and data analysis technologies for this application have been briefly described. A future paper will present results of evaluation experiments which are being undertaken.

Acknowledgement. This work has been funded by the European Union under the Interreg IV Programme of the European Regional Development Fund, Project name: ‘CrossChannel Centre for Low Carbon Combustion (C5)’, Project Number: 4005.

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References 1. Bosch, GmbH.: Diesel-Engine Management, Robert Bosch GmbH, 4th edn. Many Authors. Wiley (2005) ISBN 0-470-02689-8 2. Lapuerta, M., Armas, O., Rodriguez-Fernandez, J.: Effect of Biodiesel Fuels on Diesel Engine Emissions. Progress in Energy and Combustion Science 34, 198–223 (2008) 3. Dietsche, K.-H., Klingebiel, M. (eds.): Bosch GmbH.: Automotive Handbook, Robert Bosch GmbH, 7th edn. Many Authors. Wiley, Chichester (2007) ISBN 978-0-470-51936-3 4. Sengenuity: ViSmart – Solid-state Low Shear Immersible Bolt Viscosity Sensor, http://www.sengenuity.com (accessed: 2009) 5. Sparks, D., Kawaguchi, K., Yasuda, M., Riley, D., Cruz, V., Tran, N., Chimbayo, A., Najafi, N.: Embedded MEMS-based Concentration Sensor for Fuel Cell and Bio-fuel Applications. Sensors and Actuators A 145-146, 9–13 (2008) 6. Cosandey, F., Skandan, G., Singhal, A.: Materials and Processing Issues in Nanostructured Semiconductor Gas Sensors. JOM, The Minerals, Metals and Materials Society, http://www.tms.org/pubs/journals/JOM/0010/Cosandey/Cosandey-0010.html (accessed: 10/7/2009) 7. Capone, S., Zuppa, M., Presicce, D.S., Francioso, L., Casino, F., Siciliano, P.: Metal Oxide Gas Sensor Array for the Detection of Diesel Fuel in Engine Oil. Sensors and Actuators B 131, 125–133 (2008) 8. Ciosek, P., Brzózka, Z., Wróblewski, W.: Electronic Tongue for Flow-through Analysis of Beverages. Sensors and Actuators B 118, 454–460 (2006) 9. Ulrich, C., Petersson, H., Sundgren, H., Björefors, F., Krantz-Rülcker, C.: Simultaneous Estimation of Soot and Diesel Contamination in Engine Oil using Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy. Sensors and Actuators, B 127, 613–618 (2007) 10. Roy, S.: Fibre Optic Sensor for Determining Adulteration of Petrol and Diesel by Kerosene. Sensors and Actuators B 55, 212–216 (1999) 11. Haykin, S.: Neural Networks – A Comprehensive Foundation, 2nd edn. Prentice Hall, Pearson Education (1999) ISBN 0-13-273350-1 12. Walters, S.D.: Characterization and Analysis of Kettering-type Ignition Systems and Electrical Spark Profiles (PhD Thesis), University of Brighton (1998)

Use of Super-Capacitor to Enhance Charging Performance of Stand-Alone Solar PV System B.J. Huang, P.C. Hsu, and P.Y Ho New Energy Center, Department of Mechanical Engineering National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan e-mail: [email protected]

Abstract. The battery charging performance in a stand-alone solar PV system affects the PV system efficiency and the load operating time. The New Energy Center of National Taiwan University has been devoted to the development of a PWM charging technique to continue charging the lead-acid battery after the overcharge point to increase the battery storage capacity by more than 10%. The present study intends to use the super-capacitor to further increase the charge capacity before the overcharge point of the battery. The super-capacitor is connected in parallel to the lead-acid battery. This will reduce the overall charging impedance during the charge and increase the charging current, especially in sunny weather. A system dynamics model of the lead-acid battery and super-capacitor was derived and the control system simulation was carried out to predict the charging performance for various weathers. It shows that the overall battery impedance decreases and charging power increases with increasing solar radiation. An outdoor comparative test for two identical PV systems with and without supercapacitor was carried out. The use of super-capacitor is shown to be able to increase the lead-acid charging capacity by more than 25% at sunny weather and 10% in cloudy weather. Keywords: stand-alone solar PV power; solar charging; battery charging; supercapacitor charging.

1 Introduction The battery charging performance in a stand-alone solar PV system affects the PV system efficiency and the load operating time. New Energy Center at National Taiwan University has been devoted to the development of a PWM charging technique to continue charging the lead-acid battery after the overcharge point to increase the battery charge capacity [1]. The present study intends to use the super-capacitor to further increase the charge capacity before the overcharge point of the lead-acid battery. The super-capacitor is connected in parallel to the lead-acid battery. This will reduce the overall charging impedance during the charge and increase the charging current, especially in clear weather. A charge control system (Figure 1) is thus developed and tested outdoor.

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Fig. 1. Solar charging control system

2 System Dynamic Model of Super-Capacitor and Lead-Acid Battery In order to design a feedback control system for solar charging control with leadacid and super-capacitor batteries in parallel, the system dynamic model of supercapacitor and lead-acid batteries have to be determined first. In the present study, the size of the lead-acid battery used is 100Ah/12V and the super-capacitor is 120F/2.3V. Derivation of System Dynamic Model of Super-Capacitor The electrical performance of a super-capacitor is equivalent to a capacitor connected in series to a resistor. The system dynamic model of super-capacitor thus can be written as Vsc ( s ) k ≡ G sc ( s ) = k1 + 2 I sc ( s ) s

(1)

The time response of super-capacitor voltage vsc(t) can be derived as: vsc (t ) = k1isc (t ) + k 2 ∫ isc (t ) dt dv sc (t ) di (t ) = k1 sc + k 2 isc (t ) dt dt

(2) (3)

By inputting a step current to the super-capacitor and measuring the voltage time response vsc(t), the parameters k1 and k2 can be determined. The capacity of the super-capacitor is 0.077Ah. Figure 2 shows the time response of voltage under the

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step inputs of 1C current (0.077A) and 2C current (0.154A). Right after step current input, disc(t)/dt=0, and eqn(3) can be rewritten as k2 =

(4)

1 dv sc (t ) isc (t ) dt

Therefore, k2 can be determined from the magnitude of step current and the voltage response slope. Table 1 shows the results. Table 1. Dynamic test results of super-capacitor

dvsc(t)/dt, V/s

k2

1C (0.077A)

0.00067

0.0087

10C (0.77A)

0.00562

0.0072

Step current, A

average

0.0080

The parameter k1 can be determined from the initial condition of the step response test. From eqn(2), at t=0+, the integral part is still zero and v sc (0 + ) = k1isc (0 + ) or k1 =

v sc (0 + ) isc (0 + )

(5)

Table 2 presents the determination of k1 from the test results. Table 2. Determination of k1

Current step size 1C 2C 2C 1C 1C 3C 3C 1C

Voltage jump, V 0.039 0.036 0.065 0.063 average

k1 0.51 0.47 0.43 0.40 0.45

The system dynamics model of the super-capacitor is then derived as, using the average values of k1 and k2 : G sc ( s ) = 0.45 +

0.08 s

(6)

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Fig. 2. Voltage time response under step inputs of current

Derivation of System Dynamic Model of Lead-acid Battery The derivation of the system dynamics model of the lead-acid battery follows the same method described in [1]. For the lead-acid battery (Pilot, 12V/100Ah) used in the present study, the system dynamics model is derived as 2.6861 V LA ( s ) ≡ G LA ( s ) = I LA ( s ) s + 3.5693

(7)

3 Design of Solar Charging Control System To charge the battery to its full capacity, a three-stage charge algorithm can be utilized (Figure 3). Phase 1 is to directly charge the battery from solar PV until the battery voltage reaches its overcharge point. Usually, the battery is charged in full load without controlling the charging current in Phase 1. Thus, only 50~80% state of charge (SOC) can be achieved at Phase 1. Phase 2 is to maintain the battery voltage at the fixed overcharge point to replenish the remaining capacity. Phase 3 is to reduce the charge voltage to avoid overcharge and maintain 100% SOC for the battery. In both Phase 2 and Phase 3 the charging current generated from PV needs to be reduced in order to maintain at a set voltage. A feedback control system based on the system dynamics model of battery (Figure 4) was developed using pulse width modulation (PWM) technique to control the charging current

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from PV in Phase 2 and Phase 3 [1]. The system dynamics model for the leadacid battery connected in parallel to the super-capacitor (VLA=Vsc) is VB (s) ≡ Gbat ( s ) = G LA ( s ) + G sc ( s ) I B ( s)

Phase 1

Phase 2

(8)

Phase 3

V I

time Fig. 3. Battery charging process

The PI controller was used in the present study. The control system will switch to the PWM mode when the battery reaches overcharge point (Phase 2 and Phase 3). During Phase 1, the feedback system sets the PWM duty cycle as 1.0 to charge the battery in full speed. The controller design for the lead-acid battery using SIMULINK simulation results in the following results: ⎛ 1⎞ C ( s) = 9⎜1 + ⎟ ⎝ s⎠

Fig. 4. Feedback control system based on the system dynamics model of battery

(9)

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The control system was developed using the microprocessor PIC16F877A. The overcharge point is set at 14V and the lowest discharge voltage is set at 11V. The discharge power to LED for lighting starts at 18:30PM until the lowest discharge voltage reaches.

4

Outdoor Performance Test of Solar Charging System

Two solar PV modules (MSX-60) and a 25W LED lighting fixture were installed in a solar charging system for the long-term outdoor test of solar charging performance with and without super-capacitor. The super-capacitor used in the solar charging system consists of seven super-capacitors with 120F/2.3V each connected in series. The system dynamics model then becomes Gsc ( s ) =

1⎛ 0.08 ⎞ ⎜ 0.45 + ⎟ n⎝ s ⎠

(10)

Where n is the number of super-capacitor connected in series, (n=7 in the present study). Two identical solar PV systems (with 25W LED) were installed at the same location to compare the performance. First of all, the control system simulation results using SIMULINK are compared with the test results and shows very small errors as shown in Table 3. Table 3. Comparison of simulation and outdoor test results

Date (2009) Daily total solar irradiation (MJ/m2) weather simulation outdoor test results Simulation error (%)

4/23 13 sunny 399.3 392.5 1.7

4/15 10.8

4/14

4/17

4.9

2.6

sunny with cloudy rainy cloud daily total charged energy (Wh) 296.6 162.9 77.1 293.9 156.9 72.9 0.9 3.7 5.4

The outdoor test has shown that the use of super-capacitor in parallel connection with the lead-acid battery can increase about 25% battery charge capacity in sunny days and more than 10% in cloudy days, as shown in Table 4. All the test results show that the lead-acid battery without super-capacitor operates mostly in Phase 1, before the overcharge point (14V), usually 13.8V at most, since the charging power is relatively lower without the aid of super-capacitor. The state of charge (SOC) of the lead-acid battery is always lower than 80%. For PV system with super-capacitor, the operation of lead-acid battery will easily lie in Phase 2 and the PWM charging control [1] is activated. In this case, the SOC is always higher than 80%. This is due to the fact that the use of super-capacitor will move the lead-acid battery operating line closer to the MPP (maximum power point) of the solar PV (Figure 5) which creates a larger power generation.

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Table 5 shows the internal resistance and charging power of the lead-acid battery at different time. At 12PM, the internal resistance of the lead-acid battery reaches the lowest (3.21Ω) for the solar system with super-capacitor, while it becomes 4.93Ω for the system without super-capacitor, about 35% higher. Figure 6 presents the instantaneous solar radiation variation on 2009/4/23. It shows that around 12PM, there is a time variation of solar radiation which will cause the super-capacitor to become a temporary energy storage device at the instants of high radiation when the lead-acid battery is not able to be charged at high power due to internal resistance. This stored energy in super-capacitor is then released during the low solar radiation periods to charge the lead-acid battery. This explains the increase of charged energy due to the use of super-capacitor. Table 4. Outdoor performance test under various weather

Date (2009) Daily total solar 2 irradiation (MJ/m )

4/23

4/15

4/14

4/17

13

10.8

4.9

2.6

Sunny cloudy with cloud Simulation results of daily total charged energy (Wh) System with 399.3 296.6 162.9 super-capacitor System without 331.3 261.8 143.5 super-capacitor Increase of 20.5 11.0 13.6 charge (%) Outdoor test results of daily total charged energy (Wh) System with 392.5 293.9 156.9 super-capacitor System without 315.2 257.0 140.8 super-capacitor Increase of 24.5 14.4 11.4 charge (%) weather

sunny

rainy 77.1 81.8 -5.7 72.9 79.8 -8.5

Table 5. Internal resistance and charging power of lead-acid battery at different time

sys tem time (4/23) 8AM 10AM 12PM

With super-capacitor LA battery Charging resistance power (W) (Ω) 9.99 6.30 3.21

17.4 28.6 59.1

Without super-capacitor LA battery Charging resistance power (W) (Ω) 11.53 6.98 4.93

14.2 24.7 35.9

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Fig. 5. Operating line of lead-acid battery with and without super-capacitor

Fig. 6. Variation of solar radiation on 2009/4/23

5

Conclusion

The battery charging performance in a stand-alone solar PV system affects the PV system efficiency and the load operating time. The New Energy Center of National Taiwan University has been devoted to the development of a PWM charging technique to continue charging the lead-acid battery after the overcharge point to increase the battery storage capacity by more than 10%. The present study intends to use the super-capacitor to further increase the charge capacity before the overcharge point of the battery. The super-capacitor is connected in parallel to the lead-acid battery. This will reduce the overall charging impedance during the

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charge and increase the charging current, especially in sunny weather. A system dynamics model of the lead-acid battery and super-capacitor was derived and the control system simulation was carried out to predict the charging performance for various weathers. It shows that the overall battery impedance decreases and charging power increases with increasing solar radiation. An outdoor comparative test for two identical PV systems with and without super-capacitor was carried out. The use of super-capacitor is shown to be able to increase the lead-acid charging capacity by more than 25% at sunny weather and 10% in cloudy weather. For PV system with super-capacitor, the operation of lead-acid battery will easily lie in Phase 2 and the PWM charging control is activated. In this case, the SOC is always higher than 80%. This is due to the fact that the use of super-capacitor will move the lead-acid battery operating line closer to the MPP (maximum power point) of the solar PV which creates a larger power generation. In addition, the time variation of solar radiation will cause the super-capacitor to become a temporary energy storage device at the instants of high radiation when the lead-acid battery is not able to be charged at high power. This stored energy is then released during the low solar radiation periods to charge the lead-acid battery. More research is needed to clarify how to design a proper super-capacitor to best mach the solar PV system. Acknowledgment. This publication is based on work supported by Award No.KUK-C1014-12, granted by King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST).

Reference 1. Huang, B.J., Hsu, P.C., Wu, M.S., Ho, P.Y.: System dynamic model and charging control of lead-acid battery for stand-alone solar PV system. Solar Energy (2010) (in print)

Nomenclatures isc vsc s vsc Ipv Vpv VB Vo Isc(s) Vsc(s) ILA(s) VLA(s) Gsc(s) GLA(s) GB(s)

current through super-capacitor, A voltage across super-capacitor, V Laplace transform variable, complex variable voltage across super-capacitor, V solar PV current, A voltage across solar PV, V voltage across the battery, V overcharge point of lead-acid battery, V Laplace transform of super-capacitor current Laplace transform of super-capacitor voltage Laplace transform of lead-acid battery current Laplace transform of lead-acid battery current transfer model of super-capacitor transfer model of lead-acid battery transfer model of battery bank in solar PV system

Displacement of Conventional Domestic Energy Demands by Electricity: Implications for the Distribution Network Roger Morgan School of Engineering, Liverpool John Moores University, Byrom Street, Liverpool e-mail: [email protected]

Abstract. Using off-peak electricity for domestic loads instead of burning fuel can reduce CO2 emissions. Two loads are considered: electric vehicles, which displace petrol and diesel, and electric space and water heating, which displaces natural gas. The paper uses experimental evidence based on case studies, together with estimates based on existing information, to calculate the extra electricity demand which might result from changing to electricity. The resulting figures are used to estimate how much demand could be met without reinforcement of the distribution infrastructure, and what reinforcement might be needed if all the demand is to be met by electricity. It is shown that charging of electric vehicles can be accommodated, in most cases without reinforcement of the distribution network. However, electric domestic space and water heating would require reinforcement, unless very stringent efficiency improvements can be achieved.

1 Introduction With an increasing proportion of electricity coming from renewable and from other low-carbon-dioxide sources, probably including nuclear in the future, it becomes attractive to look for a displacement of existing energy-consuming activities, both in the home and for activities associated with the home, away from fossil fuel burning appliances and towards electricity. However, this can be justified only if the increased electrical load is genuinely met from low-CO2 sources. In practice, this probably means using as large a proportion as possible of the 'new' loads at night, using base-load generation. This paper will look at the implications of such a policy, not for the generation of electricity, but for the final stage of distribution to the consumer. Two aspects will be considered, electric vehicles and electric space and water heating. These are chosen as being, at present, the two most significant home-based activities which are fossil-fuel based.

2 Electric Vehicles Although biofuels, and especially biodiesel, are becoming important in some markets, there is a limited amount of recyclate feedstocks such as waste frying oil, and R.J. Howlett, L.C. Jain, & S.H. Lee (Eds.): Sustainability in Energy and Buildings, SIST 7, pp. 149–158. springerlink.com © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2011

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the production of new feedstocks involves the displacement of arable land from food production to fuel production. Hydrogen has been proposed as an alternative to hydrocarbons, for spark-ignition engines and for fuel cells, but fuel storage as a compressed gas is potentially dangerous, and storage as a cryogenic liquid, though easy on a large scale, is difficult on a small scale because of surface-to-volume considerations. Moreover, whatever their fuel, fuel-burning engines suffer from the limitations of the second law of thermodynamics, so their efficiency is inevitably poor unless they can be combined with a use for the waste heat, which is difficult in a vehicle except for the relatively small heat requirement of warming the car and demisting the windows. There is thus an obvious advantage in moving away from fuels and towards electricity. To begin, we must try to put a figure on the energy requirements of a typical electric private car. There are at present almost no hard figures available. Recently [1,2] a project has begun in the West Midlands to discover the pattern of use and the energy consumption of electric cars, which may provide reliable figures in the reasonably near future. For this paper, however, we need a way of getting an estimate. The present author has been fortunate to have a rough estimate from a neighbour in Lichfield, Staffordshire, who has a Citroen Berlingo Electrique van. His typical uses are for short runs around the West Midlands, the largest distance being a trip to Birmingham, a round trip of perhaps 35 miles. According to this owner, the charging takes typically 3-4 hours overnight at 2 kW, making a daily requirement of only 6-8 kWh per day. For owners living in metropolitan areas, this relatively small figure may well be typical. To get a more generally applicable estimate, we can use figures for the annual mileage of cars. In the USA this figure (for the year 2007) is 12,334 miles per year [3], while the figure for the UK is probably a little less, at about 10,000 miles per year. To convert that into fuel, we need a miles-per-litre figure. That does of course depend on the nature of the vehicle and of the terrain in which it is used. The author’s own car does about 10 miles per litre of petrol. For the UK average of 10,000 miles at 10 miles per litre, we get 1000 litres per year. With a density of 0.7 kg per litre [4] (the figure for n-octane) we get 700 kg per year. To convert this to kilowatt-hours we can use a conversion figure of 1 tonne of oil = 12,000 kWh [5] so 700 kg = 8400 kWh. An alternative, and higher, conversion figure can be obtained from the higher (or gross) calorific value of petrol, given [6] as 48 MJ/kg. This leads to a conversion figure of 700 kg = 9300 kWh, but it must be borne in mind that the higher calorific value assumes use of the latent heat of condensation, which is not likely in a petrol engine. As a compromise, we shall assume an effective conversion figure of 700 kg = 9000 kWh. However, we also need to allow for the fuel efficiency of the car at the point of use. A typical petrol engine probably reaches no more than 20% efficiency, while an electric car might be expected to reach 80% efficiency. Assuming those two figures to be accurate (which is not by any means certain), an electric car is some 4 times as efficient at point of use as a petrol car. That reduces the annual requirement for 10,000 miles

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per year to 2250 kWh. If we now assume that the car is used 4.5 days a week for 50 weeks of the year, that is 225 days a year, we get 10 kWh per day. That is not too much greater than the figure for the Berlingo van that we looked at above. It appears, therefore, that an average night-time charging requirement of about 10 kWh per night is a reasonable estimate for the average domestic vehicle.

3 Electric Space and Water Heating Space heating in the UK accounts for some 58% of all domestic energy use [7], and water heating for a further approximately 15% (see figure 1). Getting figures for the power needed to heat a ‘typical’ household is more difficult, as it is very sensitive to weather and to occupancy. However, figures obtained by Sernhed [8] for houses in Lund, in southern Sweden, indicate heating consumption of between 2 and 5 kW over a 24 hour period, see figure 2. If this is regarded as reasonable, we would need to have energy available of between 48 and 120 kWh for each day of 24 hours. Sweden, even in the south, is of course colder in winter than most of the UK, but the houses there are usually better insulated, so the Swedish figures may be at least reasonably applicable to houses in the UK.

Fig. 1. Domestic final energy consumption. Measurements from Building Research Establishment, original diagram from UK DTI, Energy Consumption in the United Kingdom.

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Fig. 2. Power consumption of houses in Lund, Sweden. Diagram from Kerstin Sernhed, Household load patterns and peak load problems, EEDAL 06.

4 Existing Supply Infrastructure The electric power distribution system is installed on the assumption of diversity of demand, that is, not all loads in each house, and not all loads in a group of houses, will be at their maximum at any one time. The diversity factor is defined as the ratio of the sum of the individual maximum demands of the various parts of a power distribution system to the maximum demand of the whole system. The diversity factor is always greater than unity. However, a commonly used figure is the demand factor, defined as the ratio of the maximum demand of a building for electric power to the total connected load. This is always less than unity. Either way, the result is that there is no need to install capacity sufficient to meet the total load of a house. In typical suburban housing developments in the UK, it has been customary to install enough distribution capacity to supply an average of 2 kW to each house. Of course, the maximum demand will be significantly greater, and the usual domestic fuse rating is 40 amps, which equates to about 10 kW. But the 2 kW average figure is usually found to be adequate except where a new development has electric heating, which is quite unusual in this country, though it is common in Scandinavia. We can see the effect of this policy in the way the popular media cover renewable energy projects. A wind power project is described as ‘enough to supply 10,000 homes’. The technical media, covering the same project, might describe it as having a rated output of 20 MW. Clearly, the ‘Home’ is a unit of power equal to 2 kW. This relationship may well be derived from the figure of 2 kW used for the diversified demand of a residential development. It must be noted that older residential areas in the UK, up to perhaps the early 1960s, were cabled at the much lower level of 1 kW per house. The extent to which this older practice is still extant is not known.

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5 Supplying New Loads At night in the UK a typical house probably has almost zero electricity consumption. Even if heating is kept on at night, this is typically fired with natural gas or oil, so the only electrical loads are the pump and boiler, which are very small. Thus the whole of the 2kW average demand is potentially available to supply new loads. And at night, only the most efficient and lowest cost power stations are on load, which hopefully may also be the ones with the lowest CO2 emissions, such as nuclear and wind power sources. The power industry has recognised for more than 40 years the desirability of encouraging the use of this off-peak availability. Numerous preferential tariffs are available, the most widely known of which is ‘Economy 7’, which provides for 7 hours of low-price electricity from about 2300 to 0600 or midnight to 0700. To give some idea of the financial benefit available, the Scottish Power (formerly Manweb) tariff in North Wales is 4.839 p/kWh at night rate and 12.195 p/kWh at day rate, that is, night rate is 40% of day rate. These prices pertain to the latter part of 2009. We noted earlier that the charging requirements of electric cars are around 10 kWh per night. With a 7-hour charging period, this averages to 1.4 kW, well within the 2 kW capacity of the typical suburban distribution network. Moreover, there is a considerable margin for error, so even if the earlier estimates of charging requirements are low, the new load of electric cars can easily be accommodated. More problematic is the requirement for space and water heating. We have noted earlier that the requirement is between 48 and 120 kWh per day. If this is to be stored during the off-peak period of 7 hours, this would make for an off-peak load of between 7 and 17 kW. That is well in excess of the 2 kW available. In order to make electric heating a widespread replacement for natural gas, we could look at supplying the energy over 24 hours, as it is required, rather than by overnight storage. That is unlikely to be realistic, as the demand is likely to be very ‘peaky’ with peaks in the early morning and in the early evening, as that is when people in this country turn on their heating. More likely is the use of thermal storage, not as a means of using night-rate electricity, but as a means of peaklopping. If that is done, the lower figure for heat requirement of 48 kWh is just about met by a constant load of 2 kW. What would such a heating system look like? Domestic heating in the UK is dominated by hydronic systems with pipes and radiators. Any replacement heating must continue to look and feel like the present one if it is to be accepted. The most likely replacement would use the existing pipes and radiators, supplied by an enlarged version of the ordinary hot water storage tank, heated by immersion heaters. Such equipment already exists for supplying hot water from stored overnight electric heat. However, it tends to be large. A thermal store of around 450 litres occupies a cupboard of 700 x 700 x 2500 mm [9]. Such a store, if filled with 450 litres (450 kg) of water with a specific heat of 4.18 J g-1 0C-1 used over the range 90 - 60 oC (30 0C range), can supply 450 x 30 x 4.18 = 56430 kJ of heat, equivalent to 15.7 kWh , which is nowhere near the 48-120 kWh per day which space heating appears to need.

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Instead of water, a thermal storage substance is needed. In the 1960s a number of thermal storage heating units were manufactured using refractory bricks as the storage element. Most of these went on to supply hot air rather than hot water to heat the house. Although perfectly satisfactory as a means of heating, this is likely to face resistance from UK households used to hydronic heating. Some hot brick storage units were made with a heat exchanger to heat water, so meeting that requirement. As an alternative, it might be possible to use a substance which melts at a suitable temperature, and which stores heat in the latent heat of melting. Suitable substances can be either ordinary chemicals such as magnesium nitrate, melting point 95 0C [10], or specially formulated substances such as ethylenediammonium ditetramethoxyborate [11], melting point 78 0C. Another possible approach is to use heat pumps rather than direct electric heating. A heat pump [12] exploits the second law of thermodynamics, using refrigeration technology to take heat from a low-temperature source such as air, water, or pipes buried in the ground, and to supply it at the temperature required for central heating. The Coefficient of Performance for Heating (COPh) is the ratio of heat supplied to power consumed, and is typically around 3. Thus 3 kW of heat are supplied for each 1 kW consumed. If a heat pump is used, the available supply of 2 kW can supply around 6 kW of heat, which on a 24 hour basis is 144 kWh, well in excess of the larger heat requirement figure of 120 kWh. However, it must be noted that the COPh figure for a heat pump is very sensitive to the temperature at which heat is supplied. If used to heat a store, the temperature may well be higher than if used to heat a house directly, and so the COPh may be significantly less than the value of 3 used above. Heat pumps are thus likely to be at their best if used with 24 hour electricity rather than with a thermal store.

6 Can Energy Efficiency Help? With the present-day preoccupation with energy efficiency, it might be thought possible to accommodate the new loads by cutting down on existing loads, through energy efficiency measures, or just by doing without certain energy consuming activities. We must examine, therefore, how far this can help. Proposing the reduction or elimination of ‘standby’ consumption is fashionable. The red light on the front of the television set has been blamed for all manner of woes. Looked at rationally, however, this is a very small amount of energy per consumer; it is only because of the enormous scale of public electricity supply that the total energy figure is significant. And recent advances in technology have reduced the figure considerably. Most of the energy used by the standby function of the older type of television set with a cathode ray picture tube went to keep the picture tube cathode hot, so as to give a quick start when required. With modern flat-screen television sets there is no requirement for such a system, so the standby power can be greatly reduced. The same applies to computer displays, which are now almost entirely of the flat-screen type. It appears, therefore, that standby power in most homes is not a significant load, even on a national scale, and its elimination cannot possibly provide any useful capacity in the local distribution network.

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Another fashionable proposal is to turn off street lighting late at night. There is no doubt that street lighting is a significant load. To take an example, the county of Essex has 120,000 street lights, which together use 44 GWh per year [13]. This equates to 366 kWh per year for each lamp, or an average of 1 kWh per lamp per day. If we now look at the street (not in Essex) where the author lives, there are 17 houses and 4 street lamps. If the Essex average figure of 1 kWh per lamp per day is used for this street, the total elimination of street lighting would liberate an average of only about 0.25 kWh of energy per household. Another possibility sometimes aired is the use of more efficient light sources. Indeed, an American web site claims that changing to more efficient lamps such as light-emitting diodes [14] would reduce the energy requirement by 50% or more. This is at variance with a recent paper [15] which suggests that white LEDs have a luminous efficacy of up to 150 lumens per watt compared with 100-200 lumens per watt for low-pressure sodium lamps as used in many suburban areas in the UK. The efficiency improvement achievable by using LEDs may be only marginal, therefore. Thus, although reducing the amount of street lighting, or perhaps using more efficient lamps, would significantly reduce national energy consumption, it would do almost nothing to free up capacity in the local distribution network. Where energy efficiency measures might indeed help is if the heating requirement of houses can be reduced. In the discussion of space heating, we assumed a requirement of 48-120 kWh per day per house, and we noted that 24-hour electricity was needed to supply that requirement. If these figures could be reduced to one third, an off-peak period of 7 hours could very nearly supply the requirement. It seems unlikely, however, that such a drastic saving of heating could be achieved easily.

7 Demand-Side Management Demand-side management (DSM) can be used to improve the use made of existing infrastructure (generation and transmission as well as distribution) by reducing the peak demand. It achieves this by dividing the demand into high-priority loads such as lighting, which are always met, and low-priority loads, such as water heating by an immersion heater, which can afford to wait because it incorporates an element of storage. With the exception of storage heating with off-peak tariffs, DSM is not widely used in the UK at present. New loads such as vehicle charging and space heating are ideally suited to the technology, since they can be designed at the outset to use DSM. In practice this cannot be done at the level of the individual home, because each house can easily cope with an increase in short-term load. Instead it needs to be done at the level where the problem exists, which for the present purpose is the local distribution substation. For this reason the new American standard for charging vehicles, SAE J1772 [16], which is said to enable ‘smart grid’ technology, may be a way forward. What DSM cannot achieve, however, is the liberation of significant distribution capacity over a large fraction of the off-peak period.

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8 Reinforcement of the Distribution Network It appears, therefore, that supplying space and water heating requirements electrically is feasible, but cannot be done using the existing 2 kW infrastructure unless it is done with 24 hour electricity supply. That loses both the price advantage of night-rate electricity and also the CO2 advantage of using only the most efficient and lowest CO2 power generation. If we wish to use off-peak electricity for space heating, we must reinforce the distribution network. The thought of digging up the streets of our towns is unattractive. However, we have done it at least twice, and in some places three times before. Historically, the gas industry in the UK used first coal gas and then a type of coal gas substitute made by cracking petroleum naphtha. In the 1960s natural gas became available. The existing distribution network was unsuitable for this new gas, and all the gas pipes in all the towns and cities of Britain were dug up and replaced, and the streets were then reinstated. More recently, in the 1990s, there was a major campaign to lay optical fibres for cable television and broadband internet. Again, the streets were dug up and then reinstated. And in some places the water supply pipes have been renewed. So we can contemplate doing a similar scale of work to reinforce the electricity distribution network, especially if ‘trenchless’ technology can be used. Installing new additional cables, rather than replacing existing cables, would allow the simultaneous installation of kerbside charging points for residential areas which lack garages or private car parking areas. Such points are already seen in some European cities, and are already being planned for new public car parks in the UK. As well as reinforcing the cables, the local distribution substations would need to be upgraded. In contrast to the requirements of cables, the substations are concentrated in a few locations, often in buildings or in small fenced-in enclosures. Upgrading would involve craning out an existing transformer and craning in a new, larger one, or possibly adding a second transformer to supplement the existing one. Either way, it is a much easier problem to solve than reinforcing the cables. In contrast, there is likely to be less need to reinforce the existing incomers into individual houses. Most houses have a single-phase incomer which is easily capable of meeting the fuse rating of 40 amps, and indeed is probably capable of much more. This is more than enough to satisfy the requirements of the new loads, especially if demand-side management methods can be used. It must be emphasised that the problem discussed is primarily a problem of the suburbs. In city centres the domestic load may be small in comparison to the total load because commercial or even industrial premises dominate. In the off-peak period, the commercial load is likely to be small, so there will be ample distribution capacity to supply an increased domestic load. In rural areas of the UK, the usual arrangement is to supply individual houses or small groups of houses through an 11kV single-phase transformer rated at close to the expected maximum

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demand, so there is little risk of overload at night unless the transformer has a really low rating. Interestingly, the practice in urban and suburban areas in the United States and in countries under its influence is to run distribution lines overhead rather than underground, at medium voltage around 12 kV, and to install local transformers on poles overhead rather than in buildings or enclosures, in a similar way to the rural practice in the UK, so the problem discussed in this paper may be less significant in such countries.

9 Conclusions This paper is based on a number of assumptions which are believed to be reasonable but are not hard fact. Based on these assumptions, it is clear that the existing suburban distribution network in the UK can cope with a night-time load of private electric vehicles, at least in those areas where a 2 kW average demand has been catered for. It is also clear that a change from fuel-burning space heating to electric cannot be coped with unless 24-hour electricity is used, which would lose much of the advantage of lower CO2 emissions, or unless there is an extreme reduction in heating demand to about one-third of the present level, an improvement which is unlikely to be achievable easily. Other energy efficiency measures are unlikely to achieve enough saving to make a worthwhile difference to that conclusion. Thus it appears that reinforcement of the distribution network is necessary if electric space heating is to be used extensively.

References [1] http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/ 8114159.stm [2] http://www.newscentre.bham.ac.uk/press/2009/12/ 12Dec09MitsubishiElectricCarTrial.shtml [3] http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/statistics/ 2007/vm2.cfm [4] Kaye, G.W.C., Laby, T.H.: Tables of Physical and Chemical Constants, p. 122 [5] Stockil, P.A. (ed.): Our Industry – Petroleum. British Petroleum Company (1977) [6] http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/fuels-higher-calorificvalues-d_169.html [7] UK Department of Trade and Industry, Energy Consumption in the United Kingdom, http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file11250.pdf [8] Sernhed, K.: International Energy Efficiency in Domestic Appliances and Lighting Conference (2006) [9] Gledhill Torrent technical literature, http://www.gledhill.co.uk [10] Kaye, G.W.C., Laby, T.H.: Tables of Physical and Chemical Constants, p. 115 [11] Stringer, K., Wilson, J.W., Morgan, R.: The heat storage potential of ethylenediammonium ditetramethoxyborate. Int. J. Energy Research 13(6), 741–742 (1989)

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[12] See, for example, McMullan, J.T., Morgan, R.: Heat Pumps, Adam Hilger, Bristol (1981) [13] http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/street-lightsto-be-switched-off-at-midnight-to-save-energy-407985.html [14] http://www.nycclimatesummit.com/casestudies/lighting/ lighting_annArbor.html [15] Coles, M.: Energy Efficiency of Luminaires, Wiring Matters, p. 21 Autumn (2009) [16] See for example, http://www.zoomilife.com/2009/04/21/sae-j1772-the-newplug-standard-for-electric-car-charging

Experimental Investigation of CI Engine Operated Micro-Trigeneration System Fuelled with Karanj Methyl Ester-Diesel Blend Dilip Sharma1, Kamal Kishore Khatri1, S.L. Soni1, and Deepak Tanwar2 1 2

Department of Mechanical Engineering, M.N.I.T., Jaipur 302017, India Department of Civil Engineering, M.N.I.T., Jaipur 302017, India

Abstract. A Micro-Trigeneration system based on Karanj Methyl Ester-Diesel Blend fuelled CI engine is designed and realized in laboratory. Experimental investigations are carried out to evaluate the performance and emissions of the original single generation system as well as the Trigeneration system developed. The test results show that the total thermal efficiency of Trigeneration reaches to 87.28% at the engine full load compared to only 33.21% for that of the original single generation. CO2 emission in kg per unit (kWh) of useful energy output from Trigeneration is 0.1348 kg CO2/kWh compared to that of 0.3184 kg CO2/kWh from single generation at the engine full load. Percentage reduction in CO2 emissions in kg/kWh with Trigeneration as compared to single generation throughout the load range is from 57.65% to 87.37%. The experimental results show that the idea of realizing a Karanj Methyl Ester-Diesel blend operated Micro-Trigeneration is feasible and effective to utilize the resources more efficiently.

1 Introduction Increased energy demand, limited resources and the environmental pollution due to exploitation of energy, have emphasized the need for utilizing these resources efficiently. Trigeneration has been emerged as the effective technique for achieving the goal of energy conservation. It is more efficient and less polluting than electricity generated from central power plants. This makes Trigeneration the cleanest, most environmentally friendly and economic method to generate electricity. Cogeneration is defined as simultaneous production of power and heat. Trigeneration is simultaneous production of power, heat and cooling or refrigeration. This is also referred as combined cooling, heating and power i.e. CCHP. [1,2] Trigeneration is advantageous over single electricity generation and cogeneration. It has higher total energy efficiency, lower emissions of CO2 and the other waste gases and it has more choices for useful energy outputs [1-15]. These systems range in size from large units designed to electrify and heat entire town, to small units that can serve a single home. In addition to the ability to utilize the by-product heat, Trigeneration also has the advantage of lower transmission losses and increased energy security from natural disasters, over R.J. Howlett, L.C. Jain, & S.H. Lee (Eds.): Sustainability in Energy and Buildings, SIST 7, pp. 159–168. springerlink.com © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2011

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consumption of power and even terrorist acts. Large industrial plants, universities, hospitals, and office buildings have successfully implemented Trigeneration systems. This technology is maturing and typically utilizes natural gas micro-turbines integrated with adsorption / desiccant coolers to take advantage of by-product heat in warm seasons. The new frontier of Trigeneration is in the residential and small building sector. Applying Trigeneration technology to smaller scale residential and small commercial buildings is an attractive option because of the large potential market. Many manufacturers are developing small scale Trigeneration systems or micro-CHP units. These small-scale power plants typically range in size from 1 to 15 kWe. These generators utilize an internal combustion engine, Stirling cycle engine, or fuel cell as the prime mover. Prime mover drives a generator which produces electrical power. The waste heat from the prime mover is recovered and used to drive thermally activated components such as an absorption chiller or desiccant dehumidifier, and to produce hot water or warm air through the use of heat exchangers. Fossil fuels are mainly used world over for providing energy to the prime movers. However the fossil fuels are depleting very rapidly. Moreover, the increased use of petroleum products will intensify local air pollution and enhance the global warming problems. This situation has compelled scientists and technologists in both developed and developing countries to look for economically and environmentally sound alternatives to fossil fuels. The vegetable oils can be used as an alternative fuel for the C. I. engines. Vegetable oil based fuels have been proved as potential alternative greener energy substitute for fossil fuels. The vegetable oils are renewable in nature and have comparable properties with Petro-Diesel. These are biodegradable, non-toxic, and have potential to reduce the harmful emissions. One of the best methods to use the vegetable oils in the diesel engine is the conversion of vegetable oil into Biodiesel by transesterification process. The transesterification process has been proved as the most effective method and widely utilized [16-20]. Several researchers have conducted experimental and simulation based investigations on Trigeneration systems [1-15]. Most of the studies are related to computational based simulation techniques or experimental studies on large scale Trigeneration systems [6,7,9,15]. Little work has been done in the field of experimental studies on Micro-Trigeneration systems utilizing alternate fuels for their prime movers. The investigations showed a significant impact on raising the energy efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions responsible for global warming [3,4,8]. The objective of this study is to investigate the feasibility to develop a MicroTrigeneration system working on alternate fuels and to carry out experimentations to investigate the performance and exhaust emission of the system. The Trigeneration system designed and realized in laboratory for the present research work is based on a CI engine as prime mover. Biodiesel-Diesel blend has been used as an alternate fuel for the CI engine. The waste heat from engine cooling system and engine exhaust system has been utilized to generate hot water through a heat exchanger and cooling or refrigeration through a vapor absorption refrigerator.

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2 Experimental Setup and Procedure The schematic layout of the experimental setup for the present investigation is shown in Fig.1. It consists of a test-bed, having a diesel engine, electric dynamometer, heat exchanger for heating the water, exhaust heat driven absorption refrigerator, fuel tank, air box, operation panel having controls and displays for different thermocouples, tachometer and flow meters. Fuel supply is measured using burette flow meter. NOx, CO, CO2 and HC measurements were done with the help of AVL DITEST (AVL DiGas 4000 light) gas analyzer. Envirotech APM 700 Smoke meter was used to measure exhaust smoke. Calorific value of the fuel used was evaluated by Bomb calorimeter.

Fig. 1. Schematic layout of Experimental Setup for Trigeneration system

2.1

Diesel Engine Generator Set

A typical engine system widely used in the agricultural sector of India has been selected for present experimental investigations. A stationary single cylinder, four stroke, constant speed, water cooled, direct injection Kirloskar make diesel engine (Model-AV1) with electric generator was used for the experimentations. 2.2

Heat Exchanger

A heat exchanger was designed and fabricated for the experimental tests to recover heat from the engine exhaust gas according to the maximum heat output from the

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exhaust gases. The heat exchanger is a cross flow, multi-flattened tube and finned, compact, and made of brass tubes and copper fins. The size of the heat exchanger designed was obtained as: Height 0.34 m, Width 0.3 m, Thickness 0.05 m. 2.3

Absorption Refrigerator

An Electrolux vapor absorption refrigerator was used for creating the refrigeration effect. It was a commercially available, NH3-H2O pair based, electrically operated refrigerator with a capacity of 41 liters and heat input of 95 Watt. Generator of the refrigerator was modified to utilize the waste heat of exhaust gases. Due to small amount of heat available from the engine, the generator was modified to make the refrigerator, a direct exhaust fired refrigerator instead of a hot water fired or steam fired refrigerator. For the above purpose, a counter flow, double pipe type heat exchanger was designed, fabricated and installed. 2.4

Experimental Plan

A plan was designed for the experimental investigation of the performance of the Trigeneration system which is given as following: 2.4.1 Performance of Engine Generator Working on Single Generation System A series of tests were designed and conducted to evaluate the engine generator performance when it runs on a single generation system working on B-20 as well diesel for baseline data. The fuel used in the study is blend of diesel and Biodiesel based on Karanj oil which is an inedible vegetable oil and renewable in its nature. The botanical name of Karanj tree is Pongamia Pinnata. It is chiefly found along the banks of streams and rivers or near the seacoast of India. It is known that the pure vegetable oils create operational problems in engines due to its high viscosity and low volatility. So it was then decided to use Biodiesel of Karanj oil i.e. Karanj methyl ester as blending fuel in Diesel to obtain Karanj Methyl Ester-Diesel blend. The blend of 20% Karanj methyl ester and 80% fossil diesel by volume was selected as fuel for the existing diesel engine. The Biodiesel of the Karanj oil was produced by Transesterification process. The fuel blend so obtained is named as B-20. While varying the engine load between idle to full load the relevant data were recorded such as the engine generator power output, fuel consumption, engine exhaust temperature, emissions etc. 2.4.2 Performance of Trigeneration A series of tests were also designed and conducted to evaluate the performances of Trigeneration. In these tests, the engine load was varied between idle to full load (similar to that of single generation) and the required parameters were recorded in order to evaluate the total useful output (power + heat recovered from coolant and exhaust + refrigeration effect), total thermal efficiency etc.

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3 Results and Discussion The main physico-chemical properties of the selected fuel were evaluated and were found to be equivalent to that of fossil diesel. There was no abnormal combustion phenomenon in the engine and the engine was running smoothly. The performance and emission of the diesel engine with B-20 were nearly same as compared to that with fossil diesel. The diesel engine generator system fuelled with B20, performed satisfactorily on the single generation system as well as on the Trigeneration system mentioned above. There was no engine operational problem during the experimentations. The test results for averaged values of three tests for each parameter are shown in the following sections: 3.1

Engine Generator Performance and the Comparison

The test results for BSFC of engine generator on Single generation and Trigeneration systems are shown in Fig.2(a). The results show that the BSFCs of Single generation and Trigeneration are nearly equal. The test results for the brake thermal efficiency of engine generator on Single generation and Trigeneration are shown in Fig.2(b). The test results show that the brake thermal efficiency of engine generator on Single generation and Trigeneration are nearly the same. The results show that the integration of the Trigeneration components to the engine generator does not influence the performance of the engine generator significantly. 3.2

Engine Emissions

The emissions of smoke, CO, HC, NOx, and CO2 from the diesel engine on Single generation and Trigeneration are shown in Fig.3. The results show that the differences are mostly very small. 3.3

Performance of Vapor Absorption Refrigerator

The parameters of the performance of refrigerator were recorded and evaluated during the Trigeneration operation on different engine loads. The test results for the exhaust gas fired refrigerator shows that at the full load, the generator temperature is 1180C. The final evaporator inlet temperature is -3.20C; at food chamber is 3.20C. The heat input to the refrigerator QG is 100.13W; the refrigeration effect QE is 42.1 W; and the coefficient of performance of the refrigeration system is 0.4204. The test results for DC power electric heated refrigerator show that the refrigeration effect is 30.165 W with COP equals to only 0.3175. The refrigeration effect was calculated by placing a known quantity of water inside the food chamber and noting down the change in temperature of the chamber and time taken by it to reach steady state. The linearity of the fall in temperature was confirmed and UA value for the evaporator chamber was calculated to determine the refrigeration effect. These results show that the COP of the refrigerator driven by exhaust gas is higher than that of electric power heated refrigerator.

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(a)

(b) Fig. 2. Variation of (a) BSFC and (b) BTE with engine load and comparison of single generation with Trigeneration

3.4 Performance of Trigeneration System Compared to That of Single Generation System The parameters of the performance of refrigerator were recorded and evaluated during the Trigeneration operation on different engine loads. The test results were validated by comparing it with the test results of experimental study on a small household size Trigeneration carried out by Lin Lin et.al [4]. Percentage changes in the values of performance parameters of Trigeneration over the single

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(a) (b)

(c)

(d)

(e) Fig. 3. Variation of (a) Smoke density (b) CO (c) HC (d) NOx and (e) CO2 in exhaust with engine load and comparison of Single generation with Trigeneration

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generation for the two studies are quite comparable. The detailed test results of the whole Trigeneration system from the engine no load to full load, are shown in Fig.4. From the figure, it can be seen that • • • •

the useful energy output varies from 2370.06 W at the engine no load to 8873.23 W at the engine full load; the thermal efficiencies of Trigeneration varies from 52.13% at the engine no load to 79.38% at the engine full load; the specific fuel consumption varies from 0.1315 kg/kWh at the engine 500 W load to 0.1044 kg/kWh at the engine full load; the CO2 emission varies from 0.1775 kg CO2/kWh at the engine 500W load to 0.1348 kg CO2/kWh at the engine full load.

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

Fig. 4. Variation of (a) Useful energy output (b) Thermal efficiency (c) SFC and (d) CO2 for Single generation and Trigeneration and their comparison

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Fig.4 also shows the comparisons of the useful energy output, total thermal efficiency, specific fuel consumption and CO2 emission between Trigeneration and single generation. From the results, it can be seen that the useful energy outputs from Trigeneration are much higher than that of single generation. The increase in useful energy output is 139.92% at the engine full load. The total thermal efficiency of Trigeneration is from 139.03% higher than that of single generation at full load. The fuel consumed by Trigeneration is much less than that of single generation. The specific fuel consumptions for single generation are from 0.8540 kg/kWh at the engine 500W load to 0.2497 kg/kWh at the engine full load. The decrease in fuel consumption for Trigeneration over single generation is from 58.16% at the engine full load. The CO2 emissions for single generation are from 1.1968 kg CO2/kWh at the engine 500W load to 0.3184 kg CO2/kWh at the engine full load. The CO2 emission per unit (kWh) of useful energy output of Trigeneration is reduced by 57.65% at engine full load, compared to that of single generation. This shows that the CO2 emissions from Trigeneration are much lower than those from single generation.

4

Conclusions

In this study, performance and emission of a Micro-Trigeneration system based on Karanj Methyl Ester-Diesel Blend (B-20) operated CI engine are evaluated. The performance of the engine with B-20 is nearly equivalent to that with Diesel. When the engine generator runs as a single generation or in a Trigeneration, the brake power output, brake thermal efficiency and the fuel consumptions for the two systems, are nearly the same. The increase in useful energy output from the Trigeneration as compared to single generation is from 139.92% under different engine loads. The total thermal efficiency of Trigeneration is from 139.03% higher than that of single generation at full load. The saving of fuel consumption for Trigeneration over single generation is 58.16% at full load. The CO2 emission per unit (kWh) of useful energy output from Trigeneration is reduced by 57.65% as compared to that from single generation at full load. This research work shows that the idea of realizing a household size Trigeneration is feasible and the design of the Trigeneration is successful. The experimental results show that the Micro-Trigeneration is able to generate electricity, to produce heat and to drive a refrigeration system simultaneously from a single alternate fuel (B-20) input. The Trigeneration is more efficient, less polluting and more economic than the single generation.

References 1. The Cogeneration and Trigeneration technologies, http://www.trigeneration.com (last accessed on January 30, 2008) 2. Pratt, D., Underwood, H.: Final Design report biodiesel cogeneration project (biocogen report), http://www.messiah.edu/acdept/depthome/engineer/ Projects/edr_finalreport/pdf/cogeneration.pdf (last accessed on February 4, 2008)

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3. Dentice d’accadia, M., Sasso, M., Sibilio, S., Vanoli, L.: Micro-Combined Heat and Power in Residential and Light Commercial Applications. Applied Thermal Engineering 23, 1247–1259 (2003) 4. Lin, L., Wang, Y., Al-Shemmeri, T., Ruxton, T., Turner, S., Zeng, S., Huang, J., He, Y., Huang, X.: An experimental investigation of a household size Trigeneration. Applied Thermal Engineering 27, 576–585 (2007) 5. Nicholas Alexander Stone, Installation and instrumentation of a micro-CHP demonstration facility. A MS Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, Mississippi (2006) 6. Colonna, P., Gabrielli, S.: Industrial trigeneration using ammonia-water absorption refrigeration systems (AAR). Applied Thermal Engineering 23(4), 381–396 (2003) 7. Cardona, E., Piacentino, A.: A methodology for sizing a trigeneration plant in Mediterranean areas. Applied Thermal Engineering 23(13), 1665–1680 (2003) 8. Kong, X.Q., Wang, R.Z., Wu, J.Y., Huang, X.H., Huangfu, Y., Wu, D.W., Xu, Y.X.: Experimental investigation of a micro-combined cooling, heating and power system driven by a gas engine. International Journal of Refrigeration 28, 977–987 (2005) 9. Teopa Calva, E., Picon Nunez, M., Rodrıguez Toral, M.A.: Thermal integration of trigeneration systems. Applied Thermal Engineering 25(7), 973–984 (2005) 10. Bassols, J., Kuckelkorn, B., Langreck, J., Schneider, R., Veelken, H.: Trigeneration in the food industry. Applied Thermal Engineering 22(6), 595–602 (2002) 11. Godefroy, J., Boukhanouf, R., Riffat, S.: Design, testing and mathematical modeling of a small-scale CHP and cooling system (small CHP- ejector trigeneration). Applied Thermal Engineering 27(7), 68–77 (2007) 12. Yadav, R.J., Verma, R.S.: Effective utilization of waste heat from diesel genset to run air conditioning plant. In: Proceedings of National Conference on Advances in Energy Research (AER 2006), IIT Bombay, India (2006) 13. Shah, A.: A Proposed Model for Utilizing Exhaust Heat to run Automobile Airconditioner. In: The 2nd Joint International Conference on “Sustainable Energy and Environment (SEE 2006)”, Bangkok, Thailand, November 21-23 (2006) 14. Lazzarin, R.M., longo, G.A., Romagnoni, P.C.: A new HVAC system based on cogeneration by an I. C. engine. Applied Thermal Engineering 16(7), 551–559 (1996) 15. Mone, C.D., Chau, D.S., Phelan, P.E.: Economic feasibility of combined heat and power and absorption refrigeration with commercially available gas turbines. Energy Conversion Management 42, 1559–1573 (2001) 16. Ramadhas, A.S., Jayaraj, S., Muraleedharan, C.: Use of vegetable oils as I.C. engine fuels – A review. Renewable Energy 29, 727–742 (2004) 17. Raheman, H., Phadatare, A.G.: Diesel engine emissions and performance from blends of karanja methyl ester and diesel. Biomass and Bioenergy 27, 393–397 (2004) 18. Mathur, H.B., Das, L.M.: Utilization of non-edible wild oils as diesel engine fuels. In: Proceedings Bio-Energy Society Second Convention and Symposium, pp. 198–202 (1985) 19. Hemmerlein, N., Korte, V., Richter, H., Schoroder, G.: Performance, Exhaust Emissions and Durability of Modern Diesel Engines Running on Rapeseed Oil. SAE Technical Paper Series No. 910848, SAE, Warrendale PA (1991) 20. Ma, F., Hanna, M.A.: Biodiesel production: a review. Bioresource Technology 70, 1–15 (1999)

Renewable Energies in the EU Energy Policy: Model of Territorial Distribution of Efforts to Meet the Strategic Goal for 2020 A. Tolón-Becerra1, X. Lastra-Bravo1, and F. Bienvenido-Bárcena2 1

University of Almeria, Area of Engineering Projects e-mail: [email protected] 2 University of Almeria, Department of Computer Science

Abstract. First, we analyzed available data on renewable energy consumption and the share in the European Union, taking 2005 data, total and per capita general energy consumption and per capita income during 2000-2006 as references. Afterwards, a nonlinear methodology for territorial distribution of the EU-27 goal for reaching a 20% share of renewable energy in the gross final consumption of energy is proposed. This methodology is applied to the year 2020 on the NUTS0 territorial level, that is, to members of the European Union, according to the EUROSTAT Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS). Weighting is done based on the share of energy from non-renewable sources in gross final consumption of energy, energy from non-renewable sources per capita, energy from non-renewable sources per GDP and GDP per capita. Finally, a multicriteria formula was applied, weighting the variables used in this study. Keywords: EU energy policy, Energy from renewable sources, National overall targets.

1 Introduction There is worldwide concern about high fossil-fuel energy consumption, climate change and global warming and its possible long-term consequences (Omer 2008a; Vera and Langlois 2007), forcing us to seek safer and cleaner energy resources, in keeping with the search for sustainable development (Dincer 1999; Dincer and Rosen 1998; Rosen 1996). The use of energy from renewable sources (RES) is closely bound to sustainable development, more so when society requires a sustainable supply of energy resources and their effective and efficient use (Dincer 1999; Omer 2008a). RES are sustainable and available in the long term (Charters, 2001; Dincer 1999), and both their generation and consumption have a minimum negative impact on human health or the healthy functioning of vital ecological systems (Omer 2008b). European energy policy incorporating energy efficiency, renewable energies and energy savings in its work programmes is in agreement with governmental policies instituted worldwide (Andrews-Speed, 2009). In this regard, the European R.J. Howlett, L.C. Jain, & S.H. Lee (Eds.): Sustainability in Energy and Buildings, SIST 7, pp. 169–178. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2011 springerlink.com

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Union, which has a renewable energy market with an annual turnover of EUR 15 000 million, equivalent to half the world market (EU, 2006), has set a goal of a minimum 20% share of its energy mix from renewable resources in the gross final consumption of the European Union by 2020. This is one of the general strategic goals of the energy policy for 2020, called the 20/20/20 goal (Council of the European Union, 2007; Bouquet and Johansson, 2008). To meet this general goal, Directive 2009/28/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources, amending and subsequently repealing Directives 2001/77/EC and 2003/30/EC, established binding national targets for the share of energy from renewable sources in the gross final consumption (GFC) of energy by 2020. Although this new directive was far more detailed and gave the Member States clear targets, it remains unclear how these national quotas were set. Data are rational, but there is no information on how they were arrived at. In the Presidency Conclusions from the European Council (Council of the European Union, 2007), the 20/20/20 goals were approved, and the starting point for these EU-27 strategic energy policy goals was set as the year the Green Paper on Energy Efficiency was published (2005). The purpose of this paper is to present a clearer distribution methodology for quotas and efforts, which takes into account the actual state and the specific characteristics of the different States involved (which are extremely heterogeneous).

2 Analysis of Renewable Energies During 2000-2006 and in the Starting Year (2005) This section analyses the situation of renewable energies in Europe in two scenarios, the European Union of the 15 (EU-15)1 and the European Union of the 27 (EU-27)2, to identify the differences in behaviour of the more industrialised countries (EU-15) from those that have joined the EU since 2004. First an analysis of their development is given, and then the main indicators related to the RES in the starting year (2005): share of renewable energy resources, RES in GFC per capita and per GDP, and GDP per capita, and NRES in GFC per capita and per GDP During 2000-2006, the EU-27 increased its overall share of RES in GFC by 1.69%, and the EU-15 by 1.68%. Of the Member States, Denmark, Czech Republic and Germany increased their share most during this period (Fig. 1), by 5.41, 4.38 and 4.06%, respectively. Countries like Latvia, Slovenia, Lithuania, France, Greece and Finland reduced their share in this period, but except for Greece, they are still higher than the European mean. Malta is the only Member 1

2

The European Union 15 is composed of: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. The European Union 27 is composed of: EU-15 plus Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.

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Fig. 1. Share of RES in GIC.in 2000-2006

State that has neither reduced nor consumed RES during this period. The trends are irregular among the member countries, and are much higher in the EU-15. The EU-15 consumed 84.21% of RES in the total EU-27 GIC. The overall share of the EU-27 was 8.53% in 2005, where Sweden, with 39.80%, is the Member State with the highest share of RES in GIC. Only five countries surpassed the EU minimum share of 20% (Sweden, Latvia, Finland, Austria and Portugal). Luxembourg, United Kingdom, Belgium, Netherlands and Cyprus stand out with shares of less than 3%. The shares of the member countries are observed to be very heterogeneous (Fig. 2). The RES in GFC per capita are also significantly different. The EU-27 mean was 2.10 toe inhabitant-1, where Sweden, Finland and Austria stand out with their high means of 15.56, 14.15 and 7.94 toe inhabitant-1, respectively. The United Kingdom, Cyprus and Netherlands, were the lowest. No direct effect of population was observed in the results due to the differences in RES in GIC. In the RES in GFC per GDP analysis, it is observed that most of the countries that have joined the EU since 2004 have higher means than the EU-15. Latvia, Romania and Estonia were the countries with the highest RES in GFC per GDP, with 109.72, 86.60 and 61.29 toe M€€ 00-1. Significant differences in GDP per capita were observed among the Member States. The highest is Luxembourg, which surpasses almost 25 times the ratio of countries like Bulgaria and Romania, the last countries to join the EU, and practically triples the EU-27 (20 495.86 000 € € 00 per inhabitant). The mean GDP per capita of the EU-27 countries is 18.53±13.14 000 € € 00 per inhabitant.

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Fig. 2. Indicadores relacionados con las energías renovables en 2005

Luxembourg, Belgium and Finland had the highest NRES in GFC per capita, with 95.76, 36.65 y 35.49 toe inhabitant-1. The mean for the EU-27 was 22.55 toe inhabitant-1 (Fig. 3). The most heavily populated countries in Europe, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy and Spain, were around the European mean, 25.71, 25.62, 23.51, 21.97 and 21.37, respectively.

Fig. 3. NRES in GFC per GDP and RES in GFC per GDP in 2005

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A direct effect of the GDP was observed on the NRES in GFC per GDP indicator, as it was higher in the countries that have joined since 2004, in all of which it was over the EU-27 mean of 110.07 toe M€€ 00-1. Sweden is the Member State with the lowest NRES in GFC per GDP with 70.16 toe M€ € 00-1, followed by Denmark and the United Kingdom, with 73.35 and 85.20 toe M€ € 00-1, respectively.

3 Method This general methodology is based on scientific fact and may be easily modified to take other characteristics of the States into account. This distribution methodology may also be used on other territorial aggregation levels, such as the decentralized States of Germany or Spain (NUTS2). The proposed model is based on the use of statistical data (EC 2009a, 2009b), general distribution functions and minimum and maximum limits. We applied our method under the following premises: 1. Effort is distributed territorially on the EUROSTAT NUTS03 level for the current 27 countries in the European Union. 2. The EU-27 must meet a minimum of 289 Mtoe of RES in GFC in 2020, which is 20% of the RES in GIC according to data published by the EU in the Renewable Energy Technology Roadmap document (EREC 2008). This would be an increase of 183.7 Mtoe over 2005 (105.3 Mtoe). Therefore, the coefficient of increase of the EU-27 is 2.744. 3. All the countries must meet a minimum share of energy from renewable sources in their gross final consumption of energy for 2020. This minimum can be modified4 as the final criteria are changed: Minimum overall share of renewable energy. 4. All the countries must improve their renewable energy share even if they have previously reached the final target set by a general distribution method: Minimum improvement rate. 5. Effort is distributed by a nonlinear function (in our example, we use a quadratic distribution function), whereby the countries that started out in the worst situations are asked to do the most. 6. Each State is assigned a single value generated by a weighted multicriteria formula that takes the distance to the final overall goal into account (computed as the complement of the renewable energy share) and the GDP per capita. The first component implements the fact that those countries with the lowest renewable energy share must make the strongest effort, the second component shows how the European Union can ask a little more from those countries with more economic potential. These values include current knowledge. 3 4

Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics. In this study the minimum overall share was 10%, assigned to Malta in Directive 2009/28/EC.

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The reduction coefficients are weighted according to four relative indicators (Ri): Share of NRES in GFC, NRES in GFC per capita, NRES in GFC per GDP and GDP per capita, in the starting year of 2005, and in each geographic unit (i). The four hypotheses considered in this study were: • Hypothesis 1. The countries that have a high share of NRES in GFC must make the greatest effort to increase their RES share. • Hypothesis 2. The countries that consume the most NRES in GFC per inhabitant must make the greatest effort to increase their RES share • Hypothesis 3. The countries that consume the most NRES in GFC per euro GDP must make the greatest effort to increase their RES share. • Hypothesis 4. The countries with the most material wealth per inhabitant must make the greatest effort to increase their RES share. The formula for finding the coefficients for modulated increase in the RES in GFC (E), for each member state (i) was:

ci = f (Ri( 2005) ) = a * (Ri( 2005) )

2

(1)

where a is the weighting factor that modulates the coefficients of increase ci, as a function of the relative indicator (Ri). The coefficient multiplied by the RES in GFC in 2005 (Ei(2005)) gave us the absolute minimum that must be met by each Member State in 2020 (Ei(2020)). A was calculated using the expression:

a=

∑E

E ( 2020 )

i= n i =1

=

i * (Ri( 2005) )

x

( 2005 )

∑E

(c ) * E( 2005)

i= n

(2)

i * (Ri( 2005) )

x

( 2005 )

i =1

where c is the coefficient of increase of the total geographic area (cEU-27 = 2.744), E(2005) and E(2020) are the result of the summation of the RES in GFC of the Member States for 2005 and 2020, respectively; and Ri is the relative indicator selected. Since in 2020, no country can reduce its RES in GFC, and this share must be at least 10%, the countries that do not meet these parameters after applying the formula were applied the premise of: b+10, where b is the share of RES in GFC in the starting year. Then a second iteration was done excluding countries with shares below 10%. In the second iteration, E(2005), corresponded to the summation of RES in GFC of the countries that were not excluded in the first iteration. Due to the change in the total geographic area, a new c was calculated called c*. The new coefficient c* was found from the relationship between the sum of E(2005) and ∆E, and E(2005). The increase in RES in GFC (∆E) is equal to the difference between the expected amount of RES in GFC for 2020 (E(2020)) and the summation of the RES in GFC for 2020 of the countries in the second iteration. Successive iterations were done until the criteria set were met.

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Finally, the formula was applied with S as a multicriteria equation: S=λ1*S1+ λ2*S2+λ3*S3+…, weighting relative indicators S, so the sum of the coefficients that weight them is equal to 1, (1=λ1+λ2+λ3+…). The weighting coefficients used in this study were 0.25, 0.25, 0.50 and 0, for the share of NRES in GFC, RES in GFC per capita RES in GFC per GDP, and GDP per capita, respectively. GDP per capita was not used because the GDP and population variables are already included in other indicators. Weighting was done in this way give more weight to relativisation by the GDP, according to Directive 2009/28/EC.

4 Results The values presented below are for orientation only, as the GFC predictions for 2020 may vary, depending on political, economic, environmental or social situations in each country, within the European Union or worldwide. By analysing the results, it is hoped to open discussion on the possibilities for setting EU energy policy thresholds depending on the parameter or indicator used. In 2020, the EU27 share of RES in GFC would be 21.10% in all the hypotheses considered in this study. The results found for the four hypotheses are shown in Figure 4. In all of the Hypotheses, Malta is assigned a 10% share for 2020 as specified in Directive 2009/28/EC. Its coefficient of increase is infinite because its RES share in 2005 was 0%.

Fig. 4. Renewable energy share under the four hypotheses and in the multicriteria formula

The results as a function of the share of NRES in GFC (Hypothesis 1) show that the countries with the largest share of NRES in GFC in 2005 should have the highest coefficients of increase. Therefore, Luxembourg and the United Kingdom

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should make the greatest effort with coefficients of increase of 13.881 and 8.816. These countries should increase their share of RES in GFC from 0.90 and 1.30% in 2005 to 10.90 and 11.30% in 2020, respectively. Shares range from 10.00% in Malta to 46.96% for Sweden. Comparing the shares found with those set by the EU, there is less pressure on the final share in the countries that had a lower share of NRES in GFC in 2005 (Fig. 4). Luxembourg, the United Kingdom, Belgium and Netherlands would have shares lower than those set by the EU (10.9 vs. 11.0%, 11.3 vs. 15.9%, 12.2 vs. 13.0% and 12.4 vs. 14.0%, respectively), even though they are the countries with the highest coefficient of increase. As a function of NRES in GFC per capita, differences are wider than those found as a function of share of NRES in GFC (Fig. 4). In general, no direct relationship is observed between the coefficient of increase and the NRES in GFC per capita. But most of the countries do respond positively to the hypothesis posed with shares similar to those set by the EU. Luxembourg, with 43.557 would have the highest coefficient of increase and Portugal, Finland and Estonia have the lowest (1.000, 1.517, y 1.660, respectively.) The countries that should have the highest shares in 2020 are Sweden, Austria, Denmark and Latvia (94.95, 67.58, 46.32 and 42.60%, respectively). The shares calculated for Finland are contrary to the hypothesis, since in spite of being the country which consumes the second highest NRES in GIC per capita, it would have the second lowest coefficient of increase. Its high share of RES in GIC in 2005 explains this result, because when the the formula is applied, the coefficient would increase its share over 100%. No direct effect of the population was observed due to the differences in absolute RES in GIC in 2005. In Hypothesis 3, weighting as a function of NRES in GFC per GDP, Slovakia would have the highest share for 2020 (75.67%), followed by the Czech Republic (61.94%) and Lithuania (53.41%), as shown in Fig. 4. Luxembourg, Slovakia and the Czech Republic should have the highest coefficients of increase (13.881, 13.354 and 11.881, respectively), and on the contrary, Sweden (1.380), Portugal (1.406) and Finland (1.515) should make the least effort. The shares found with this hypothesis are mostly similar to those of the EU, except for Lithuania, Spain, Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Hungary. Most of the EU-15 should make the least effort. The heterogeneity of the absolute RES in GFC and GDP do not allow any direct effect of the GDP to be observed. Luxembourg, the country with the highest GDP per capita in 2005, should have the highest coefficient of increase for 2020 (1.881) under Hypothesis 4 (as a function of GDP per capita.) Sweden (1.380), Portugal (1.795) and Latvia (1.965) are the countries that should increase the least under this hypothesis. Sweden’s low coefficient of increase is the result of the high share of RES in GFC in 2005, in spite of having one of the highest per capita incomes. No direct relationship is observed between the GDP per capita and the coefficients of increase found due to the heterogeneity of the RES in GFC. The shares found under this hypothesis are the most similar to those set by the EU with the exception of Finland, Austria and Denmark, which should have shares of over 50%. As a function of the multicriteria formula, the shares are in the range of 86.21 to 10.00%, corresponding to Latvia and Malta (Fig. 4). The countries that should

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increase the most are Luxembourg and Slovakia (13.881 and 9.511, respectively). This is a result of the high NRES per capita, NRES per GDP and share of NRES in GFC in 2005. On the contrary, Sweden and Austria are the Member States with the lowest coefficient of increase (1.380 and 1.600 respectively), with NRES per capita above the European mean in 2005, but lower NRES per GDP and share of NRES in GFC. The widest differences between the shares set by the European Union and those found under this hypothesis are observed for Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary, because of their poor indicators in 2005, penalising them somewhat for their inefficient energy consumption (understood as a synonym of energy consumption intensity). In general, the results found agree with those set by the EU.

5 Conclusion The analysis of the development of renewable energies in final gross energy consumption highlighted the heterogeneity and differences in the progress made by countries in the EU. The share of renewables has stagnated somewhat in most of the countries, but the EU-27 has increased its overall share of renewables in the final gross energy consumption. Application of the model for the territorial distribution of dynamic targets seeks to give Policy Makers a broader view of the achievement of the EU overall energy policy goals. The model proposed is simple and its results are for orientation, so they should not be taken as absolute, but as a reference for formulating energy efficiency policies. Finally, it was noted that the heterogeneity of the results of each of the different hypothesis evaluated reinforces the need to include as many perspectives as possible in the formulation of energy policies, taking the specific characteristics of the realities in the different regions and countries into account. Proposed specific goals can thus be pragmatic and affordable.

References Andrews-Speed, P.: China’s ongoing energy efficiency drive: Origins, progress and prospects. Energy Policy 37, 1331–1344 (2009) Bouquet, D., Johansson, T.B.: European renewable energy policy at cross-roads—Focus on electricity support mechanisms. Energy Policy 36, 4079–4092 (2008) Charters, W.W.S.: Developing markets for renewable energy technologies. Renewable Energy 22, 217–222 (2001) Council of the European Union, Brussels European Council, Presidency conclusions, (7224/1/07), Brussels(March 8/9 2007) DEFRA, Energy Resources. Sustainable development and environment (2002) Dincer, I.: Environmental impacts of energy. Energy Policy 27, 845–854 (1999) Dincer, I., Rosen, M.A.: A worldwide perspective on energy, environment and sustainable development. International Journal of Energy Research 22(15), 1305–1321 (1998)

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European Communities (EC), 1995-2009, Statistical Office of the European Communities EUROSTAT (2009a), Also available on the World Wide Web at: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/ eurostat/home/ European Communities (EC), 1995-2009, Statistical pocketbook (2009), EUROSTAT (2009b), Also available on the World Wide Web at: http://ec.europa.eu/energy/publications/statistics/ statistics_en.htm European Parliament and European Council, Directive 2009/28/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources amending and subsequently repealing Directives 2001/77/EC and 2003/30/EC, Brussels (2009) European Union (EU). Green paper on energy efficiency or doing more with less, COM(2005), 265 final, Brussels (2005) European Union (EU), Green paper on an energy strategy for sustainable, competitive and secure energy. COM, 0105, Brussels (2006) EREC (European Renewable Energy Council), Renewable Energy Technology Roadmap (2008) Omer, A.M.: Energy, environment and sustainable development. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 12, 2265–2300 (2008a) Omer, A.M.: Green energies and the environment. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 12, 1789–1821 (2008b) Rosen, M.A.: The role of energy efficiency in sustainable development. Technology and Society 15(4), 21–26 (1996) Vera, I., Langlois, L.: Energy indicators for sustainable development. Energy 32, 875–882 (2007)

Future-Proofed Design for Sustainable Communities Maria-Christina Georgiadou1 and Theophilus Hacking2 1

PhD Candidate, Centre for Sustainable Development, Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, CB2 1PZ, United Kingdom e-mail: [email protected] 2 Programme Director, Masters of Studies in Sustainability Leadership, University of Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership e-mail: [email protected]

Abstract. This research investigates ‘best practice’ design and decision-making processes for achieving sustainable buildings and communities over the long-term. Amongst the core objectives of strategic urban planning for sustainable communities is to accommodate future changes, however this is not explicitly integrated into the planning and design processes. A framework of future-proofed building design is proposed, which aims to bridge the gap between the traditional shortterm outlook and the need for resilient and flexible buildings over the long-term. An overview of design principles for sustainable urban communities and buildings within them is followed by an examination of decision-support techniques and tools. Insights regarding how new developments should address these objectives are captured. The research represents a shift away from the short-term mindset that still dominates design and construction practices, and provides a critical review of assessment methods for improving and incentivising sustainable urban design over the long-term. Keywords: future-proofing, sustainable communities, decision-support techniques and tools, building assessment methods.

1 Introduction Sustainable development is a concept that has increasingly gained the attention of stakeholders in the built environment. Global population growth, rapid urbanisation, and climate change are amongst the key challenges. Strategic urban planning aims to reveal how such challenges can offer opportunities for transformational change via policies that address the dual goal of sustainability, namely: human development together with low ecological impact [1]. While buildings account for up to 40% of total energy consumption in many countries, they are essential for sustaining economic activity, since people spend around 80-90% of their time indoors [2]. It is expected that around 70% of the world’s inhabitants will live in metropolitan centres by 2050 [3]. The business-as-usual scenario highlights the need for a shift away from current consumption rates through multi-stakeholder collaboration, systems thinking, and innovation. R.J. Howlett, L.C. Jain, & S.H. Lee (Eds.): Sustainability in Energy and Buildings, SIST 7, pp. 179–188. springerlink.com © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2011

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The present research lies under the umbrella of sustainability in the built environment and aims to reveal features of future-oriented building design and their effect on the development and maintenance of sustainable urban communities. Little research has been conducted into ex-ante design and assessment techniques that explicitly aim to accommodate future trends and uncertainties. In addition, mainstream assessment methods focus mostly on single-buildings overlooking interrelationships at wider scales. This paper considers a community-level integrated design approach. Initially, a framework of future-proofed building design is developed based on insights gained from a literature review on sustainable communities and ‘green’ buildings. Thereafter, an overview is provided of decisionsupport techniques and tools that can enhance long-term thinking from the early planning stages.

2 Research Scope and Methodology This research covers the neighbourhood scale, as community-level schemes present opportunities for integrated solutions rather than ones developed in a piecemeal fashion [4] and can provide the economies-of-scale needed for novel technologies [5]. The term ‘sustainable communities’ refers to exemplar urban sites that exhibit a holistic approach to sustainability, which may include: ‘green’ buildings; reduced motor vehicle dependence; walking and cycling routes; green and public spaces; cultural heritage preservation; flood risk management; biodiversity; the proximity of community facilities; and local employment [6]. A scrutiny of multi-stakeholder perspectives, ‘green’ building elements and sitelevel details in leading European sustainable communities can contribute to the formulation of a future-proofed design framework and create the grounds for knowledge and technology transfer to mainstream practice. Such a framework can facilitate the selection and optimisation of technologies and policies for the regeneration of brownfield sites or the development of greenfield sites.

3 Framework of Future-Proofed Design 3.1 Definition According to the Brundtland Commission, sustainable development is ‘development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’ [7, p.43]. From this broad definition, it can be argued that future-proofing is a key ingredient in the pursuit of sustainable development or sustainability1 over the long-term. Future-proofing can be defined as strategic planning and design that responds explicitly to the temporal dimension of sustainable development, and aims to limit the risks inherent in long-term decision-making by accommodating future uncertainties. Neighbourhoods and 1

In this paper sustainable development and sustainability are used interchangeably.

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buildings that are designed to be adaptable may prove more resilient and durable over the long-term than those tailored to meet a particular short-term need. The future performance of buildings has received little consideration due to the short-term mindset and conservatism that still prevails in much of the property and construction sectors. Currently, many buildings and infrastructure have long life cycles and high up-front capital costs with a risk-averse characteristic of investing further in novel technologies [8]; hence they are not easily able to adapt to changing socio-economic and environmental conditions. Furthermore, there are ‘shifting goal posts’ caused by amendments in political systems, modifications in building regulations, establishment of new incentives, innovation in research and development, and commercialisation of new technologies. Future-proofing will add value to buildings and property developments within communities by facilitating informed and sustainable responses regarding the choice of technologies and policies and embracing a whole design approach (rather than a measure-by-measure approach), which will consider issues of embodied energy and specific planning for decommissioning. The primary objective is to identify appropriate management responses to the more predictable and, in particular, the uncertainty dimensions of the long-term future. A more contextspecific understanding of future-proofing is the consideration of the life cycle of buildings by entailing an adaptable interior layout or a durable structure that can last through a number of cycles. There is no prescriptive way to future-proof a design, as choices are site-specific. Nonetheless, two categories of approaches can be distinguished, namely: •

•

‘Soft’ future-proofing: design response to mitigate the negative outcome of an identified high impact future trend, which can be quantified to a high degree of certainty via statistical analysis. An example is the uptake of renewable energy sources or whole building design as a means to address future climate change concerns. ‘Hard’ future-proofing: design response to accommodate more uncertain future developments, which are not realised to date. An example is the use of flexible or adaptive designs to prepare for difficult to predict society changes, natural constraints or policy developments.

3.2 Design Considerations A review of consultation reports and policy documents on sustainable or ‘green’ design reveals a set of aspirational criteria for various types of buildings not all of which are explicitly long-term focussed [9]. Leading examples apply sustainability criteria for planning and design at the neighbourhood or community scale and also address non-technical criteria, such as: the need for stakeholder participation or collaboration [10]; and/or funding mechanisms and incentives. Table 1 summarises aspects for future-proofed planning and design, which aim to ensure that adaptability and durability are considered in addition to specific ‘green’ design criteria, such as energy efficiency and innovation [11].

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M.-C. Georgiadou and T. Hacking Table 1. Criteria for future-proofed planning and design at a community-level

Category

Criteria

Space, density and accessibility

Flexibility in size and allocation of internal space Multi-purpose spaces Medium to high-density development for centralised energy provision Human comfort and well-being Social acceptability and accessible buildings and neighbourhoods for an ageing population

Range of tenure choices: private, social housing, coTenure types and house affordability housing, co-operative housing, and self-build Incentives for novel heating and electricity technologies Diversification of energy mix due to finite resources Fuel poverty due to increasing energy costs Whole life cycle costing Embodied energy calculations Energy efficiency and shift to decarbonised energy

Energy and climate change •

Centralised energy systems (e.g. district heating)

• •

Renewable energy technologies Emergency management plans for natural hazards, such as flooding Inhibit the need for cooling

•

The buildings in exemplar sustainable communities contribute to their ‘futureproof’ by achieving, for example, zero or low carbon standards, or following specific utility management plans and carbon emissions monitoring [5]. Design prerequisites for achieving this are: a building envelope that utilises solar thermal gains, good insulation and glazing, optimum air-tightness, natural cooling, low energy lighting and appliances. Table 2 illustrates design responses to aid future-proofing, Table 2. Design responses for future-proofing at a building-level

Layout and Technologies

Materials, Waste and Water

Integrated solutions, such as green roofs for energy and water management Flexibility via a combination of low or zero carbon solutions Passive solar building design Real-time monitoring systems Space for energy storage systems Modern methods of constructions Smart facades

Low embodied energy steel, cement, aluminium and insulation materials Phase change materials Closed-loop networks to make obsolete the concept of waste (recycling) Rainwater and waste-water are resources; ‘doing more with less’ concept

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which do not aim to point at specific technologies but rather to facilitate the process of a sustainable development strategy that all new developments should establish. These principles should be case-by-case specific and follow an iterative approach at successive development stages, informing planning and design activities. A future-proofed design should proactively consider layout and space needs, and possible modifications in the operation of buildings that may be needed to accommodate the installation of new systems and technologies in the future [12]. Optimising the building envelope at the outset can cost-effectively enhance energy efficiency [8]; however the adoption of novel low or zero carbon technologies and innovative materials is more challenging. Even where new solutions are marketready, high costs and the lack of skilled labour hamper their widespread uptake. At present, commercially viable low or zero carbon technologies at communitylevel are: large wind turbines located outside built-up areas and waste heat or biomass-fuelled combined heat power (CHP) plants [8, 13]. Cost-effective integrated building technologies are: solar thermal collectors; and ground source heat pumps [ibid]. Solar panels and micro-wind generation or micro-CHP still require large improvements in their market penetration and performance [8].

4 Decision-Support Techniques and Tools 4.1 Sustainability Assessment Techniques and Tools This section begins with a general overview of decision-support techniques and tools used to inform stakeholder decision-making towards sustainability. Commentators agree that there is still no single, truly holistic sustainability assessment method [14], thus underpinning the need for improvements, which will address sustainability in its entirety [15]. Sustainability assessment techniques and tools have generally evolved under three main ‘umbrellas’, namely: (i) auditing or reporting against indicators or indices, (ii) product-related (e.g. life cycle or ‘green’ certification schemes), and (iii) impact assessment techniques or analytical tools [16]. This paper explores ex-ante design and decision-making; hence the first category is not of direct relevance. Research findings demonstrate that assessment methods can be differentiated by the following factors [16-17]: timing (ex-post or ex-ante assessment), coverage of sustainability themes (social, economic, and biophysical issues), degree of integration of the themes or disciplines involved, level (projects, plans, programmes or policies). Table 3 illustrates four families of methods: impact assessment techniques; analytical assessment tools; Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), and futures techniques. The latter category of tools has not been developed with sustainability in mind; however their orientation is of direct relevance to future-proofing. Nevertheless, scientific research on climate change highlights the use of scenario building as a well-established method for addressing the complexity and uncertainty embedded in long-term challenges.

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M.-C. Georgiadou and T. Hacking Table 3. Decision-support techniques and tools to promote sustainable development Family

Techniques or tools and key features Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA): well-established ex-ante environmental assessment of proposed policies at a more general policy, programme and plan (strategic) level.

Impact Assessment Techniques Prediction tools used to aid policy-making.

Environmental Impact AssessTheme-specific ex-ante assessment of ment (EIA) impacts at project level aiming to reHealth Impact Assessment duce negative effects [16-17]. Social Impact Assessment Sustainability Assessment or Appraisal (SA): integrated ex-ante social, economic and environmental assessment at strategic regional level. It derives from EIA and SEA but promotes a more comprehensive approach towards sustainability. There is little consensus regarding the nature of SA, since it is an evolving concept that is used to a wide variety of approaches in various jurisdictions [17]. Uncertainty Analysis: proactive assessment of potential damages [16]. • Vulnerability Analysis • Risk Assessment

Analytical Tools

Cost-Benefit Analysis: ex-ante assessment technique applied for Narrowly-focussed tools weighting the costs across various themes against the expected benewhich deliver particular fits [17]. It is a systematic and quantitative appraisal of economic and types of analysis. biophysical costs and benefits of alternative projects, strategies and policies [18]. Multi-Criteria Analysis: appropriate for addressing complex problems with high uncertainty, conflicting objectives, various data and information, multiple stakeholder interests, and the accounting for complex and evolving biophysical and socio-economic systems [17, 19]. Suitable for including intangible values into the decision-making. •

Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP): specific tool that can incorporate both qualitative and quantitative data into the process and may range from complex modelling to basic ‘scoring’. AHP evaluates alternatives via a matrix of pair-wise comparisons, giving the highest score to the best alternative [ibid].

Stakeholder Analysis: a systematic qualitative approach to identify and analyse the various interests and perspectives involved in the decision-making process.

• Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)

Social Network Analysis: particular tool that links stakeholder analysis with communication network theory [20].

Life Cycle Costing (LCC): economic approach in summing up the total costs of product or service over its lifetime

A ‘cradle to grave’ environmental assessment of a Life Cycle Cost Accounting product, process or activ- Full Life Cycle Accounting ity [16]. Futures Techniques

The only two life cycle costing tools that include assessment of environmental costs

Scenario Planning: the main method for strategic future thinking.

Forecast A new and unregulated re- • Normative (Backcasting) search field which incor- • Explorative porates tools for under- • standing trends and Most future work is based on explorative scenarios, which do not aim drivers, identifying risks, to predict the future or to find the single best answer but rather to exand critical uncertainties plore a range of plausible futures [21-22] and proactively formulatDelphi Method: consultation process involving a wide group of indeing robust strategies that pendent experts seeking for consensus through rounds of predefined will prove to be resilient questions. under plausible futures.

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Sustainability assessment techniques and tools give emphasis to particular themes, most often environmental, and are often used to describe a specific causeeffect relationship [17]. A key finding of this overview is the increasing interest in delivering new generation integrated assessment techniques and tools which combine standard impact assessment or analytical tools (e.g. Multi-Criteria Analysis) with futures techniques (e.g. scenario planning) for appraising sustainable futures [23-24]. It is argued that methods to aid future-proofed design responses should adopt a combination of the aforementioned techniques and tools. 4.2 Limitation of Existing Building Rating Tools The literature demonstrates a large number of tools for evaluating the environmental performance of buildings, known as Environmental Assessment Methods (EAMs) [15]. These tools cover various: building components and building types; life cycle stages (e.g. design, construction or operation); scales (e.g. global, national or local); end-users (e.g. policy-makers, academics, consultants, developers or building owners); and environmental aspects of the building performance (e.g. indoor environmental quality or total energy consumption) [25]. In addition, the tools can be differentiated by the ‘scoring’ or rating method that is used [2]. In general, EAMs are distinguished in: knowledge-based tools, such as design briefs; performance-based tools, namely LCA or simulation decision-support tools [25]; and building rating tools which are mostly considered in this section, i.e. checklists and credit rating calculators for identifying design criteria and performance, such as BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method in the UK), LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design in the US), CASBEE (Comprehensive Assessment System for Building Environmental Efficiency in Japan), SPeAR™ developed by Arup, GBTool in Canada, Green Globes™ US, HK-BEAM, etc. The overview of existing building rating tools reveals a number of limitations, which hamper their effectiveness as tools to support sustainable design, in general, and future proofing, in particular. These, together with recommendations, include: •

•

•

•

Most rating tools are strongly linked to the environmental performance of buildings, underestimating or even overlooking social and economic aspects of the sustainability agenda [15]. Few integrate a whole life cycle approach, calculate the embodied energy and give specific planning for decommissioning; either refurbishment or demolition. Furthermore, most of them do not consider real-time consumers’ behaviour into the evaluation process. They are not sufficiently flexible or user-friendly. Increase in flexibility will deliver tools applicable for various building types and adaptive to changing circumstances, whereas usable tools will present results in various formats [26]. For instance, user-friendly building guides with non technical language will facilitate a dialogue between developers and building occupants. There is not enough emphasis given to educate the building industry in terms of life cycle assessment, building design and impact on capital costs and household bills, innovation, and future uncertainties. Hence, post-construction

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auditing and performance reporting should be instituted preferably to annual performance reviews. Apart from better appraisal on building’s performance, annual reviews will create a database which will set the grounds for new research on future building design [15]. They are mostly voluntary, and since legislation has always been of the strongest tools for adopting sustainable polices, policy-makers should consider more stringent schemes as an option to increase market penetration of rating tools [26]. Higher carbon reduction targets could assist in the commercialisation of emerging technologies and lead to the establishment of dynamic energy price regimes and/or the roll-out of smart metering. They do not effectively integrate the impacts of external environment into the building design, thus they could be expanded to assess the performance of the building stock within a neighbourhood or community [15].

5 Concluding Discussion Future-proofing refers to strategic design for buildings or communities, which manages uncertainty and enhances sustainability over the long-term. Such design exhibits adaptability, resilience and durability, which are translated into criteria for internal space flexibility, accessibility by different consumer groups, housing tenure choices, and carbon reduction. The overview of existing decision-support techniques and tools that are able to enhance efficient long-term thinking underlines the following aspects for their future development: • Sustainability decision-support techniques and tools, in general, should increasingly adopt mixed (hybrid) approaches combining mainstream impact assessment or analytical methods with futures techniques. • Building assessment tools, in particular, should adopt a whole life cycle approach, by calculating the embodied energy and monitoring the energy behaviours in the assessment process. Furthermore, these tools should have multiple forms, varying from advanced modelling for designers to non technical checklists for the lay-person to effectively educate both the construction industry and the general public. Lastly, the next generation of tools should evaluate community-based settlements, thus appraising the building stock holistically at a neighbourhood scale. The above-mentioned considerations aim to orientate mainstream construction practice towards both value creation in buildings and property developments and informed decision-making for sustainable urban design. Acknowledgments. The first author would like to thank the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the Alexander S. Onassis, Public Benefit Foundation, for making possible this PhD research.

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References 1. World Business Council for Sustainable Development, Vision 2050: The new agenda for business (2010) 2. Burnett, J.: City buildings–Eco-labels and shades of green! Landscape and Urban Planning 83(1), 29–38 (2007) 3. United Nations: World Urbanization Prospects: The 2007 Revision, New York (2007) 4. Town and Community Planning Association. Eco-town Worksheet: Energy. in Projects and Publications, London (2010) 5. Town and Country Planning Association, Developing Energy Efficient and Zero Carbon Strategies for Eco-towns: eco-towns energy worksheet (2009) 6. Department of Communities and Local Government. Eco-towns Prospectus (2007) 7. United Nations, Our Common Future, World Commission on Environment and Development, WCED (1987) 8. Hinnels, M.: Technologies to achieve demand side reduction and microgeneration in buildings. Energy Policy (36), 4427–4433 (2008) 9. Town and Community Planning Association. Creating Low Carbon Homes for People in Eco-towns: Eco-towns Housing Worksheet, London (2009) 10. Department of Communities and Local Government. Planning Policy Statement: Planning and Climate Change - Supplement to Planning Policy Statement 1 (2007) 11. Department of Communities and Local Government. Better Places to Live by Design: A Companion Guide to PPG3 (2001) 12. Pitts, A.: Future proof construction - Future building and systems design for energy and fuel flexibility. Energy Policy (36), 4539–4543 (2008) 13. Town and Country Planning Association. Sustainable Energy by Design: A TCPA ’by design’ guide for sustainable communities (2006) 14. Karol, E., Brunner, J.: Tools for Measuring Progress towards Sustainable Neighbourhood Environments. Sustainability 1, 612–627 (2009) 15. Fenner, R., Ryce, T.: A Comparative Analysis of Two Building Rating Systems. Part 1: Evaluation. In: Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers. Engineering Sustainability, vol. 161(ES1), pp. 55–63 (2008) 16. Ness, B., et al.: Categorising Tools for Sustainability Assessment. Ecological Economics 60, 498–508 (2007) 17. Hacking, T., Guthrie, P.: A framework for clarifying the meaning of Triple BottomLine, Integrated, and Sustainability Assessment. Environmental Impact Assessment Review 28(2-3), 73–89 (2006) 18. Pollard, S.J.T., et al.: Integrating decision tools for the sustainable management of land contamination. Science of The Total Environment 325(1-3), 15–28 (2004) 19. Wang, J.-J., et al.: Review on multi-criteria decision analysis aid in sustainable energy decision-making. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 13(9), 2263–2278 (2009) 20. Prell, C., Hubacek, K., Reed, M.: Stakeholder Analysis and Social Network Analysis in Natural Resource Management. SRI Paper (online), Sustainability Research Institute, School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, United Kingdom (2007) 21. Foresight. Horizon Scanning Centre (cited 2010 January), http://www.foresight.gov.uk/microsites/hsctoolkit/ About-2.html

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22. van der Heijden, K.A.: Scenarios: The Art of Strategic Conversation, p. xxiv, 356 (2005) 23. Jäger, J., Bohunovsky, L., Binder, J. (eds.): MATISSE: Methods and Tools for Integrated Sustainability Assessment ( ISA), in Project Summary (2008) 24. Kowalski, K., et al.: Sustainable energy futures: Methodological challenges in combining scenarios and participatory multi-criteria analysis. European Journal of Operational Research 197(3), 1063–1074 (2009) 25. Haapio, A., Viitaniemi, P.: A critical review of building environmental assessment tools. Environmental Impact Assessment Review 28(7), 469–482 (2008) 26. Dimitrijevic, B., Langford, D.: Assessment Focus for More Sustainable Buildings. In: International Confrerence on Whole Life Urban Sustainability and its Assessment SUE-MoT Coference (2007)

Enabling Low Carbon Living in New Housing Developments – A Triple Bottom Line Analysis Steffie Broer and Helena Titheridge UCL Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering Chadwick Building, University College London Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT Tel.: 020 7679 7224

Current approaches to the design and planning of new housing developments in the UK do not sufficiently contribute to the necessary carbon emission reductions that will be required to meet UK Government targets and to avoid dangerous climate change. A tool (the Climate Challenge Tool) has been developed, which allows house builders to calculate whole life carbon equivalent emissions and costs of various carbon and energy reduction options for new developments. These cover technical and soft measures; energy used within the home, energy embodied in the building materials and emissions from transport, food and waste treatment. The tool has been used to assess the potential of various carbon reduction options for a proposed new housing development in Cambridgeshire. It was found that carbon reductions can be achieved at much lower costs through an approach which enables sustainable lifestyles rather than one which purely focuses on reducing heat lost through the fabric of the building and improving the heating and lighting systems. Furthermore a triple-bottom line analysis shows additional social and economic benefits from many of the measures.

1 Introduction The UK Government has set an 80% carbon emission reduction over 1990 levels by 2050 (Milliband, 2008). Intermediate targets of 30% by 2020 have also been set. These targets are ambitious and policies currently planned for the next ten years are considered insufficient for the 2020 target to be met (AEA Energy and Environment, 2008; DTI, 2007). UK policy focuses largely on technical solutions such as energy efficiency and renewable energy. For example, the potential from behavioural changes is not explicitly mentioned in the Energy White Paper (DTI, 2007), neither are policies that encourage such behavioural shifts. The Government tends to gradually improve the carbon emissions of new homes, to achieve a 25% emission reduction over Part L by 2010, 44% by 2013 and a final leap to “zero carbon” by 2016 (OPSI, 2008). A zero carbon home is defined as a home that produces no net CO2 emissions from energy used by the people living in the home (i.e. to heat and light the home). This however does not include energy used in the construction of the dwelling, energy embodied in the construction materials, energy embodied in goods consumed in the home or R.J. Howlett, L.C. Jain, & S.H. Lee (Eds.): Sustainability in Energy and Buildings, SIST 7, pp. 189–199. springerlink.com © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2011

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transport energy. There are currently no specific national policies that limit, or require an assessment of carbon emissions from these other ways in which energy is consumed by households. Desai (2004) estimates the contribution of the energy used in a home built to 2002 Building Regulation specifications to the overall footprint of a UK resident using a consumer based accounting methodology. He found that only 11 per cent of the carbon emissions generated by a typical UK resident living in a new home is created through direct energy use (heat and power) in the home itself. This raises the question as to whether there is anything that a house builder can do to encourage emission reduction in the other categories which amount to 89 per cent of emissions UK consumers are responsible for. Whilst there is significant potential for energy and carbon savings through technological measures such as building insulation, use of high performance glazing, and efficient heating systems (Performance and Innovation Unit, 2002), there is also significant potential for savings through behavioural and lifestyle changes (Oxford University Environmental Change Institute 1997) both within and outside the home. Many of these can be influenced by the design of dwellings and the developments within which they sit. For example, the location of a new housing development (in particular its proximity to services and facilities, including shops and public transport) can influence travel choices and thus the amount of energy used for travel, as can soft measures such as the production of a travel plan (Titheridge 2004). Some of measures can be incorporated into new housing developments through the land use planning system i.e. through transport and environmental assessments, and by applying certain planning conditions. Given that our dwellings last decades, if not hundreds of years, it makes sense to take a more holistic approach than currently being adopted through the building regulations; an approach which allows behavioural and lifestyle factors to be taken into account alongside technological fixes, when assessing options for reducing carbon emissions from new housing developments. In order to make the right choices we need to fully understand a number of factors including: the carbon equivalent emissions implications over the lifetime; the impact of the measure upon the residents; the cost implications of different measures; and the wider sustainability implications of the different measures beyond those experienced by the residents.

2 Methodology A tool (the Climate Challenge Tool) has been developed that will enable developers to compare carbon emission reduction potential for a wide range of measures that can be designed into new housing developments. The measures included in the tool cover both technical solutions such as building integrated renewable energy and soft measures that reduce carbon emissions through encouraging environmentally responsible behavioural changes.

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The tool assesses options from a triple bottom line perspective by quantifying carbon as an indicator for environmental impact and costs as an indicator for economic impact. Social acceptability and any impacts on the residents of the housing development are incorporated as qualitative indicators for social impact. The tool was developed in Microsoft Excel and uses a database of carbon emission reduction measures, their potential for carbon savings and their cost, to calculate the tonnes of carbon equivalent emissions avoided per £ invested. The tool then ranks the measures being compared on the basis of cost effectiveness, defined as £ per tonne of CO2 saved. This information is displayed alongside information on the social impacts of each measure. A five point scale is then used to indicate which measures may be most appropriate. On this basis developers can make informed choices on how to deliver carbon emissions reductions and other sustainability measures. Within the tool, capital costs are offset against any monetary savings. These saving were discounted over the lifetime of the measure using net present value (NPV) calculations. In addition to capital costs energy savings and maintenance costs plus replacement costs were taken into account. The NPV was calculated using a 3% discount rate. Available secondary data was used to build the database of carbon reduction measures. Where reliable data on carbon savings potential and cost was not available best estimates were used. Multiple data sources were used to increase the reliability of the estimates. This data came from, for example, BRE good practice publications, academic literature, government statistics, empirically determined emission reduction achievements from Bioregional and Camco, Spons and quotations from suppliers. Data from the EPA’s WARM Tool was used to assess life cycle emission abatement potential of different waste management measures. In addition input was sought from a range of relevant stakeholders to gain insight on the potential for carbon emissions reduction from soft measures that rely on behavioural change. The social acceptability and other social impacts of the measures were determined based on the findings of a consumer preference survey by Ipsos MORI (2006) and a focus group workshop conducted with sustainability and building consultants from Camco International and property developer Crest Nicolson. The tool works from a lifestyles-based view. In other words, the aim was to include within the tool emissions generated as a result of a occupying households’ lifestyle and behavioural choices, from the energy they use within the home, to the travel they make, the food they buy and the amount and way in which they dispose of waste. Such a lifestyles-based view has the potential to allow business to target those products and services which have highest overall carbon emissions. Business should then be able to proactively reduce carbon emissions throughout the supply chain in a way that also delivers financial benefits over time. This point of view also means that it is easier to estimate the effect of a decision upon occupant behaviour and therefore permits including both emission savings from technical solutions and from behavioural shifts. Furthermore, policy makers should be able to formulate sensible policies which both take into account the end consumer (i.e. the occupants of the development once it is completed) and the overall carbon emissions implication of their policies.

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Five categories of measures are considered within the tool. These categories have been chosen to reflect areas which are significant generators of carbon emissions and can, to some extent, be influenced by the house builder or developer. These categories are: 1. Household energy: the carbon emitted by a home’s occupants through consumption of energy (electricity and fossil fuels such as gas) within the dwelling, for example for heating and lighting. A house builder can influence these emissions through energy efficient design and building-integrated renewable and low carbon energy sources. 2. Building materials: carbon is generated in the production and transport of the building materials, construction on site and disposal at the end of the life of the building. A developer can influence this through, for example, by choosing locally produced material, building materials that require little energy in their manufacture (e.g. timber), and by avoiding or recycling construction waste. 3. Transport from commuting: the carbon emitted from cars, and public transport. A house builder can influence this by choosing a site where people can live close to where they work and by provision of low carbon (car sharing, public transport) and carbon free (attractive cycling paths and walkways) transport solutions, or by creating jobs locally, for example through incorporating commercial space into the development. 4. Food: the embodied carbon in food from agricultural machinery, transport, packaging material, storage and supermarket energy can be influenced by the developer by providing allotments to grow food, promoting low carbon/ethical food, or by creating local amenities which offer local and ethical produce. 5. Waste: providing recycling and composting facilities reduces waste send to landfill sites where it emits methane, a very strong greenhouse gas. In addition replacing virgin products with recycled products often means a lower carbon footprint in the manufacture of the product. A house builder can influence recycling rates by including good recycling provisions and by raising awareness (James and Desai, 2003). To illustrate the potential of the tool, it was used to examine carbon saving measures for a proposed development on the edge of Cambridge of approximately 2000 houses containing a mixture of houses and flats.

3 Results 3.1 Environmental and Economic Assessment The quantitative analysis assesses the cost and carbon implications of various household energy (energy efficiency and renewable energy) options, building material choices, sustainable transport options, and actions for reducing emissions from waste and food.

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Figure 1 below displays one of the outputs of the tool: life cycle carbon abatement costs for energy efficiency measures applied to the case study development. Energy efficiency measures are ordered according to their net present value over tones of CO2e saved ratio. A number of measures save carbon and have a negative NPV; this is because the value of energy savings is greater than the initial capital outlay even after discounting. It therefore makes most sense to incorporate these measures into a housing development, in terms of both reducing emissions and saving costs over the life time of the dwellings. Other measures save carbon at widely varying costs. Note, not all these measure are included in the UK building regulation’s SAP assessment (BRE, 2009). For example, the water reduction measures and A-rated appliances are not regulated. Similar ranking was also performed for renewable energy options, waste options, building material choices, and sustainable food propositions. Life cycle Carbon Abatement Cost of Energy Efficiency Measures for homes at the case study development (NPV/tCO2e) £800 £700 £600

£/tCO2e

£500 £400 £300 £200 £100 £0 -£100

Ae ra ti n Sh g o o w r fl Sh er ow ow flo res er w r tric fl o a t e to r w r a m a tap x s te Lo ma 6 l/m w x wa 12 in l/ te G Im oo r u mi n pr s d ov ai e b ed r at G -tig h H oo ht W n d in ess 70 Sto s % rag u e lati lo on w in s Ae ra ne ula t r te d gy ion lig Fr h id 10 ge tin g 0% G fr e oo ez lo w e en d gl r a er g zin Be y lig g h st in ting H ot s wa A-r ulat te ate ion rh d bo e ile Be at st rec r o ai r-t ver ig y B htn Ara est ess te g d l di azi sh ng M w VH A-r as M a he R t i r wi ed w cro -C th be ash HP er st ai d r-t rye ig ht r ne ss

-£200

Fig. 1. Life cycle carbon abatement costs of energy efficiency measures for homes within the case study development (£per tonne CO2e saved)

Figure 2 displays a number of options to reduce carbon emissions through encouraging sustainable lifestyle choices at the case study site. A number of measures cost less than £100 per tonne of CO2; these are site location, mix of uses on site, awareness-raising through an on-site sustainable living officer, and provision of communal facilities (indoor and outdoor). There are also a number of cost effective measures relating to energy efficiency and building material choice. The majority of carbon emission reduction measures however do involve additional costs. The difference in costs per unit of CO2e saved varied significantly.

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Fig. 2. Life cycle abatement costs for sustainable living solutions at the case study development

Based on analysis reported elsewhere (Broer and Titheridge, 2010), a home built to the current energy efficiency standards required under part L of the building regulations would have a household carbon footprint of about 2.9 tonnes CO2 per household per year. The analysis shows that the extra costs of achieving a similar level of CO2e emission reduction as would be required to move from current new build standards to a zero carbon home using the lifestyle approach for the case study site would amount to approximately £4000 per home. Sensitivity analysis reveals that costs would be similar for other housing developments of similar scale and may range between £3k per home and £10k per home. The additional capital cost of building a zero carbon home compared to building to current standards was estimated to be in the order of £20-£36,000 (op. cit). . Table 1 shows s a range of measures for the case study development and the emissions savings which were calculated to be achievable from each.

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Table 1. Estimated CO2e savings per household at the case study development for measures that go beyond current building regulations

Measures

Annual CO2e reduction (tCO2e/household/yr

Low cost energy efficiency measures (air tightness, low e lighting, low flow tabs and showers)

0.3

Solar hot water

0.3

20% increase in waste reduction and recycling through good provisions and awareness raising

0.5

15% carbon emission reduction of food carbon footprint through awareness raising and advice on organic veggie box schemes, once a week local farmers market

0.6

25% reduction in commuting transport emissions though choosing a location with jobs close to the homes, increased cycling, car share scheme and public transport

0.6

Low cost building material with low embodied carbon is chosen (timber frame, timber and tile flooring, timber cladding, site construction waste reduction, minimizing the use of concrete and lead)

0.3

Sustainable living officer achieves 10% uplift in recycling rates, sustainable food uptake, uptake of sustainable transport options and home energy management

0.3

Total

3.1

3.2 Social Assessment The social assessment covered the customer acceptability and the social impact upon the residents. Table 2 presents a summary of the analysis that was carried out, with various measures bundled into themes. From the analysis it was clear that many of the measures which are outside the normal set considered by developers, especially those relating to transport and food, can significantly add to the wellbeing of the residents, something which many of the traditional low carbon solutions to reduce household energy consumption cannot achieve.

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Theme

Residents impact

Judgement

Energy efficiency measures

Improve thermal comfort and daylighting

positive

Renewable energy generation

Some renewables have little or no impact upon the residents (e.g. solar hot water, heat pumps); others have negative impacts (e.g. biomass reduces air quality and can be less reliable, wind has visual impact)

neutral or negative

Building materials

Impact can be positive or negative depending on taste and choice of materials. Use of timber is becoming increasingly popular. Timber framed houses can be noisier.

neutral

Transport

Building mixed-use developments that match the needs and wishes of the future residents can hugely improve the livelihoods of the residents. Reducing the commute creates time for other activities.

highly positive

Waste

Residents need extra space for recycling bins in their home and need to spend time separating the waste. A space where residents can leave useable things they no longer want for others to take, will benefit those on low income most.

neutral

Food

Making ethical and healthy food easily accessible can improve the health of the residents and support local farmers

highly positive

3.3 The Triple-Bottom Line Assessment The results from the quantitative analysis of environmental and economic impacts were combined with the results from the qualitative assessment of social impacts to produce a rating for each measure based on its appropriateness (a combination of the three elements of assessment) for the case study development. Table 3 is an example of this analysis; it shows the results for a selection of the renewable energy options that were investigated. The scoring system used in the Table 3 below

Solar water heating

One medium-large scale wind turbine could be located on the edge of the site or close by. Residents are impacted visually. Noise can be an issue; turbines are available that cannot normally be heard from 10 metres.

Wind turbine

Capital costs: £1,860 per dwelling

Highly recommended

*****

Recommended if planning permission can be obtained

****

Capital costs:£160 per dwelling Environmental cost/benefit ratio: £9 per tonne of CO2e

Recommendation

Capital cost and environmental cost/benefit ratio

Environmental They are normally sized to provide 50% of annual hot water cost/benefit ratio: demand. On their own they would not meet the 10% renew- £268/tonne of CO2e able energy target. It is a simple and low cost technology with minimal maintenance requirements. The cost calculation assumes that all homes will have individual solar hot water panels. Communal systems could be installed with lower capital costs but potentially higher maintenance costs resulting from the need for O&M, metering and billing.

Solar hot water panels can provide a visual statement. Solar hot water panels are non intrusive, and therefore have neither a positive nor a negative impact upon the residents.

This is economically viable in the UK where high wind speeds prevail. Planning permission can be difficult to obtain as local opposition can be high.

Description, practical implications, acceptability and residents impact

Renewable energy source

Table 3. Example of renewable energy measures assessment

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indicates our judgment of appropriateness. We are basing this on a sliding scale ranging from * indicating unsuitable to ***** indicating highly appropriate. Costs should be read as generic guidance only and will fluctuate according to specific setup and the detailed design of the site. Please note that this analysis is site specific for the development in Cambridgeshire. Many aspects will be similar for other developments as well; however local resources (such as wind speeds) will affect the recommendations. The renewable energy measures were assumed to be sized to meet a 10% household energy carbon emission reduction target.

4 Discussion and Conclusions The Climate Challenge Tool presented in this paper allows a wide variety of different measures to be compared on the basis of not just their cost and carbon savings potential but also on their social acceptability and wider impacts. This will enable developers to incorporate a range of measures into their housing developments that will not just reduce carbon emissions and meet the energy efficiency requirements of the building regulations but will also appeal to potential purchasers of the properties. It has been shown through a triple-bottom line assessment of a case study housing development in Cambridgeshire that carbon emission reductions can be achieved at much lower costs through an approach that enables sustainable lifestyles, rather than focusing purely on reducing the emissions of the building in its use. In addition many of the low carbon lifestyle solutions have greater additional benefits to the residents than energy efficiency and renewable energy measures. Good low carbon transport provisions (walking, cycling, public transport, carshare schemes); access to jobs, amenities and low carbon consumables; convenient recycling facilities, and a sustainability officer who supports implementation and community cohesion, may be more valuable to the local residents and the wider local economy, than renewable energy and energy efficiency measures only. Whilst the findings are specific for this site, similar outcomes are expected for other developments in the UK. Changes would result from changes in household size and composition, environmental resource parameters, local transport networks, local amenities and overall size of the development. Findings show that many carbon reduction measures, such as building integrated renewable energy, currently required by many local planning authorities, cost far more per tonne of carbon saved than other unregulated solutions. Many of the lifestyle option have additional benefits to the residents and may even without additional policy incentives be a viable option for progressive house builders.

References AEA Energy and Environment : UK climate change sustainable development indicator: 2006 greenhouse gas emissions final figures. Report for DEFRA. AEA Energy and Environment, Oxon (January 2008) BRE (Building Research Establishment), SAP2005 The Government’s Standard Assessment Procedure for Energy Rating of Dwellings, revision 3. Building Research Establishment, Watford (2009)

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Broer, S., Titheridge, H.: Enabling low-carbon living in new UK housing developments. Management of Environmental Quality 21(1), 90–107 (2010) Desai, P.: Creating low carbon communities –taking a lifestyle and infrastructure led approach. Bioregional, Surrey (2004) DTI : Meeting the Energy Challenge A White Paper on Energy. The Stationary Office, Norwich (May 2007) Ipsos MORI, Eco Chic or Eco Geek – The Desirability of Sustainable Homes. Sponge Sustainability Network, London (2006) James, N., Desai, P.: One Planet Living in the Thames Gateway. Bioregional Development Group, Surrey (2003) Milliband, E.: Cited by BBC in Tougher climate targets unveiled (October 16th, 2008), http://newsbbc.couk/1/hi/uk_politics/7673748stm (accessed December 1, 2008) OPSI (Office of Public Sector Information), Climate Change Act, The Stationary Office, Norwich (2008) Oxford University Environmental Change Unit ; Decade 2MtC Energy and Environment Programme. Environmental Change Unit, University of Oxford, Oxford (October 2007) Performance and Innovation Unit, The Energy Review. The Cabinet Office, London (2002) Titheridge, H.: Sustainability Assessment of Future Energy Strategies for Milton Keynes. Unpublished PhD Thesis. Faculty of Technology, the Open University, Milton Keynes (2004)

Aspects of Life Cycle Investing for Sustainable Refurbishments in Australia Eckhart Hertzsch1, Chris Heywood1, Mirek Piechowski2, and Adrian Rowe2 1

Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning, University of Melbourne, e-mail: [email protected], [email protected] 2 Meinhardt Building Science, Meinhardt Australia Pty Ltd.

Abstract. Refurbishing existing buildings to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is important in meeting Australian government aspirational targets of a minimum of 25% by 2020. Previous studies of such refurbishments tend to provide only general upgrade, cost and investment advice because they apply generic building attributes and location criteria. They also ignore life cycle aspects such as component assets being replaced at the end of their service life and sustainability investments are over-and-above these ‘normal’ investments. This research investigates an appropriate methodology for more realistic evaluations of refurbishments and life cycle investment to upgrade buildings to 5 to 6-stars on the NABERS Australian energy rating system. The methodology is presented and discussed as a suite of inputs, simulation tools, and outputs. Preliminary results from ongoing work illustrate the outputs and their interrelatedness. This work focuses on façade improvements because they can have a major influence on the energy consumption and upgrades based on HVACs alone are often insufficient in achieving the required energy savings. ‘Sets of improvements’ are introduced as a means of controlling the variables by way of façade improvements and related changes to mechanical and electrical systems required because of the interconnectedness of building envelopes and these services.

1 Introduction International research indicates that reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is vital for the mitigation of climate change (Stern 2006; IPCC 2007). Australian research shows that its per capita emissions are among the highest in the world (Garnaut, 2008). This is a reason for the Australian Government to commit to cut the GHG emissions by a minimum of 25% by 2020. As buildings contribute approximately 23% of GHG emissions (RAIA, 2008) buildings will be important in achieving these reductions. An implication of a 25% cut is that commercial buildings will need to achieve an average energy rating of 4.5-stars on the Australian National Australian Building Energy Rating System (NABERS) (formerly Australian Building Greenhouse Rating - ABGR) in order to achieve the necessary abatement of CO2 emissions. R.J. Howlett, L.C. Jain, & S.H. Lee (Eds.): Sustainability in Energy and Buildings, SIST 7, pp. 201–210. springerlink.com © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2011

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New, more sustainable buildings can be more energy efficient but these additions to the building stock constitute as little as 2% annually (McNamara, 2008). Furthermore, the global financial crisis has severely curtailed such investments making existing buildings’ refurbishment even more important in achieving reductions by 2020. Therefore, a big challenge in Australia is the refurbishment of the existing building stock directed towards reduced operational energy and associated GHG emissions. In addition, government measures to abate Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions, such as the mandatory disclosure of energy consumption for buildings (Australian Government, 2008), threaten obsolescence for existing buildings; particularly lower grade, B & C-grade, office buildings which make up approximately 80% of the Australian office building stock (Langdon, 2009). Furthermore, many owners of these office buildings are ill-equipped to do the research necessary to make decisions to invest in sustainability in their particular circumstances. Previous studies into ways of improving energy consumption of existing buildings are of two types – improvements to building management, for example Warren Centre (2009), or refurbishment of the physical asset. There are four critiques of existing investment approaches to sustainability refurbishments. These are: 1. Studies of costs (and capital expenditure) for these refurbishments vary wildly, with figures from as high as $962/m2 (Langdon, 2008) to as little as $6/m2 (Arndt, 2009). In part, this is because they ignore the particulars of building attributes and locations – which they must as generic studies; 2. The use of techniques, such as payback periods, that are acknowledged as crude because they ignore the time-value of money; 3. Assumptions that the investment would not otherwise be undertaken, and consequential to this; 4. Ignoring the fact that investments occur as part of normal building life cycles where component assets – parts of HVACs, lifts and the like – are replaced at the ends of their service lives. This means that a sustainability refurbishment may be only an increment relative to what is already occurring. Clearly, different real-life circumstances for buildings may require different refurbishment and investment strategies, but which to consider and what to do is problematic for building owners in light of generic figures. This necessitates building owners attempting to make their own sense of such information in how it applies to their own, idiosyncratic situation, or, as may be the case, deciding not to make an upgrade sustainable, as it is more difficult and deemed not worth the effort. This work focuses on façade improvements because they can have a major impact on the operational energy and upgrades based on HVACs alone are sometimes insufficient in achieving the required energy savings. Given the research focus is on façade refurbishment the façade technology for simulation was selected using a systematic approach to façade design (Hertzsch, 1999). Because of the

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interconnectedness of facades and aspects of building services, such as HVAC & lighting, a ‘set of improvements’ were derived consequential to and consistent with the façade technology. These sets of improvements are a technique to control the number of possible variables available as refurbishment options in this investigation of a methodology of analysis rather than absolute results on all possible refurbishment options.

2 Aims The research investigated an appropriate methodology for more realistic evaluations of refurbishment options and life cycle investment strategies to upgrade buildings to 5 or 6-star NABERS energy rating. Such ratings exceed the 4.5-star average noted above but are necessary in achieving that average to compensate for buildings that are unable to be successfully upgraded to that level, for example, heritage buildings. The successful development of such a methodology would give greater precision and more sophistication to understanding refurbishment costs and their optimal timing, as a life cycle investment which is a more appropriate, holistic approach given sustainability issues require a long-term perspective. The project, as a whole, aims to addresses a number of aspects: 1) Building use; 2) Building attributes; 3) Location and resultant climatic conditions; and 4) Life cycle investment strategies. To allow these to be managed in the research process the methodology is presented here. This paper addresses a more limited range of these aspects and presents a few refurbishment options from our ongoing project to illustrate the efficacy of the work.

3 Methods One Melbourne office building (21 stories plus a 9-level carparking podium) was chosen to represent a specific building use. The building’s owner provided access to energy consumption data, plans, specifications and equipment schedules. From this an electronic building model was constructed to allow energy simulation using ‘Design Builder’ to simulate the effects of the improvements. These improvements formed the basis for analyzing the resultant expenditures as investments. A total of 9 scenarios were developed for analysis to represent the range of variables that need to be examined in order to compare refurbishment costs and consequential investment strategies from this single building study. The first three scenarios are life cycle investment only analyses as base case examples of ‘normal’ asset investment strategies that employed an Excel spreadsheet-based ten-year life cycle asset management model developed by Dr Frank Bromilow and taught in the University of Melbourne’s Faculty of Architecture,

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Building and Planning. The investment analysis model included in its input data set issues such as: • Asset value at commencement and termination of the analysis period; • Life cycle investments in renewal of component assets such as HVAC systems at the end of their service life, and the like; • Income; and • Taxation of income and depreciation allowances available under the Australian taxation system. The next six scenarios were sustainability upgrades. The second group of three scenarios examined, in order, an HVAC upgrade, a façade upgrade and a combination of the two because of the interconnectedness of these two aspects of building science. The third set of scenarios replicates the second set of three scenarios above in Brisbane. It was theorized that the sets of improvements would differ because of Brisbane’s sub-tropical climate. During the course of the research a number of sub-scenarios emerged, for instance, two different façade refurbishments. The refurbishment scenarios introduced the concept of ‘sets of improvements’ focused on, in this study, façade technologies, either singly or in combination with consequentially required refurbishment of HVAC, and lighting systems. In general, energy consumption improvements can be made from looking at the following building elements and technologies: Façade type, daylight use, shading, artificial light fittings, passive cooling strategies, energy sources, heat recovery, heat pumps, HVAC system, building automation, rainwater collection, building material ecology, and others. It is important that the list is not understood as a ‘shopping list’ with a ‘use as many as possible’ approach to minimize operational energy demand. Rather, what is needed is to maximize the consumption reduction with the minimum of technologies and building components that take advantage of the outdoor environment as much as possible. Costs related to these sets of improvements (both capital expenditure for the refurbishment and consequential operational expenditures) were then analyzed using the same investment analytical techniques used for the base case. In the results presented here the costs of the upgrades were included as an investment in the first year of the analysis period, but investment to coincide with normal asset component renewal also needs to be simulated.

4 Modeling the Analysis The analysis method used here represents a significant increase in sophistication over those often seen in many analyses of sustainability refurbishments, for instance, Davis Langdon (2008), Kelly & Hunter (2009), and others. This necessitates modeling of the analysis in order to understand the interlinking of inputs, simulation tools and outputs.

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Fig. 1. Modeling the methodology for analyses and simulations of one building

The methodology consists of three phases of inputs, simulation tools and outputs, some of which provide inputs for other simulations. The fundamental input data consists of: • Building data (Set 1) which are the building attributes by way of construction materials (structure), floor area, height, HVAC, lighting and façade technologies, location, and more, that are necessary to simulate the buildings energy performance; • The ‘sets of improvements’ that constitute the scenarios’ refurbishment options for further building simulation and provide costs for investments as capital expenditure in the investment analysis; • Building data (Set 2) are, primarily, further energy consumption data necessary for completing the energy rating simulation, for example, services pumps, lifts, domestic hot water; common lighting, and carpark lighting; and • Investment data, such as those noted above in the Methods section. Three core simulation tools were used: • Building Energy Simulation (Design Builder), which calculates outputs of energy consumption data which in turn provides an input to the investment analysis as the reduction in energy use and a change, consequentially, in operational expenditure; • Energy Rating Simulation (NABERS in this instance). The output from this was the NABERS ‘star rating’ that was important performance target here; and • Investment Simulation which was based on a 10-year life cycle producing both Net Present Value (NPV) as a discounted sum of cashflows over the analysis period and Internal Rate of Return (IRR) as a measure of the investment value of the asset.

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A fourth, subsidiary set of simulation tools were included as an adjunct to the Building Simulation Tool to bring additional refined data into that simulation. Certain building elements in old buildings may not be included in the libraries of new simulation tools, thus these tools can provide a more precise reflection of the elements’ impact on the energy consumption by including detailed simulation of the façade, or façade elements, such as framing and its edge effect.

5 Set of Improvements An appropriate set of improvements were derived using the ‘systematic approach to façade design’ (Hertzsch 1999). It considers the magnitudes of principle impacts to derive the minimum set of functions for the maximum savings in the operational energy demand and takes into consideration the need for façade ‘responsiveness’ due to outdoor environmental conditions and internal heat gains for the respective building and location. The scenarios’ sets of improvements were: • A null set as a base case; • A ‘normal sustainable refurbishment’ that reflects the Australian ‘state of the art’ upgrade that concentrates on HVAC alone (and some related technologies). In this study we added heat recovery, variable speed drives to air-handling unit fans, and perimeter lighting control to the car park; • ‘Façade Option A’: changed window-wall-ratios (WWR) due to an added spandrel panel, an extra glass layer creates a ‘double glazed unit (DGU)’, internal shading system connected to the BMS, additional perimeter lighting control to office levels and the carpark; and • ‘Façade Option B’: Same WWR as façade scenario ‘A’, a good DGU used with low-e coating, external shading connected to the BMS as well as the same perimeter lighting controls as in façade Option ‘A’ The façade Option ‘A’ and ‘B’ are compared with the base case in Figure 2.

Fig. 2. Diagrammatic sections of base case (left) and façade refurbishment ‘A’ and ‘B’

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6 Results The results of this analysis are in three forms (Table 1): • Technical results for reduction in the energy consumption from the modeled refurbishment options; • The consequential Energy rating; and • Results of the life cycle investment analysis as NPVs and IRRs. These results from the first run of simulations show that the sets of improvements produce marked reductions in energy consumption and a consequential improvement in the NABERS energy rating. However, none of the sets of improvements alone came close to achieving the targeted 5 to 6-star rating. This suggests that any set of improvements needs to include upgrades to both HVAC and facades as either alone is insufficient. The investments were also progressively larger through Simulations 2 to 4. These reflect in the changes to NPV and IRR simply as a result of how these calculations are affected by large capital expenditures (as here) early in the period of analysis. The usefulness of IRRs is in comparing this investment with an investment hurdle rate. The incremental change is less important than whether the result is more or less than the hurdle rate. In this research we are unfamiliar with the asset owner’s rate, but the decline in IRR values is, never-the-less, disturbing for any asset owner. Table 1. Preliminary results of simulations Reduction in en- NABERS ergy consumption rating

Simulation 1

Capital expenditure

Net Present Internal Rate of Value (NPV) Return (IRR)

mWh p.a.

mJ p.a.

Stars

(‘000s)

(‘000s)

(%)

0

0

2.5

0

-$6,646

1

11.0

744

20

3.5

$492

-$6,516

11.1

933

904

3.5

$10,811

-$14,200

7.2

1,238

3,219

4.0

$15,800

-$17,736

5.4

(Base case) Simulation 2 HVAC Simulation 3 Façade Option A Simulation 4 Façade Option B

1

This negative NPV is largely a factor of the initial asset value being considered high and large capital expenditures in Year 1 of analysis required to replace aged component assets. The terminal value is also influential. These asset values need to be examined further.

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A number of investment data have not been considered here, for example: • Whether there was any rental premium available due to the upgrade; • Effects of obsolescence in the base case due to lower than desirable sustainability levels in the rental market; • Effects on tenant expenses such as power, and particularly lighting costs; and • Timing of the investment to reflect life cycle capital expenditures. For instance, we know that for this building the asset management plan includes HVAC upgrades in the second year of our analysis period.

7 Discussion The refurbishment of HVACs together with a building automation/management system (BMS) and energy efficient lighting have recently become a norm, of sorts, in Australia. In part this is because of the threat of compulsory disclosure of buildings’ energy consumption. However, the results clearly show that this ‘normal sustainable upgrade’ seems insufficient in achieving the targeted 5 to 6-star NABERS rating. Additional, more dramatic and costly, refurbishments (such as the façade refurbishments here) are likely to be needed in order to reach government targets of 25% reductions in GHGs by 2020. This work shows that the refurbishment of existing buildings to reduce GHGs is a complex problem at the intersection of technical, building science solutions and investment decisions by asset owners. The latter occur in particular national circumstances of: • Norms of space occupation. For instance, Australia has owner-tenants as the norm while elsewhere owner-occupiers may be more common; and • Taxation relief available to asset owners. Yet, the target of achieving significant energy reduction, in this study 5 to 6-star NABERS, is universal. We have critiqued existing approaches to this complex problem as inadequate; often being simplistic by overlooking the particular circumstances of actual buildings. To address this critique we propose a more sophisticated approach through a methodology integrating several simulation tools, each of which allows sophisticated analysis of their input data. While the results presented here belie the sophistication inherent in the methodology we believe it a relatively straight-forward process to model a number of significant technical and investment variables, such as: • Reconsidered sets of improvements to reduce capital expenditure; • Rising energy costs in different energy efficiency scenarios; • Obsolescence by way of changes to rental levels and terminal yields;

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• Taxation incentives, such as accelerated depreciation allowances, to support the viability of owners’ capital expenditures, which on these results are not viable; and • Investment timing to match end-of-service life asset renewal programs. Despite the methodology’s sophistication a number of important energy sustainability benefits are not considered here including: • Improvements in indoor environmental quality and productivity, the benefits of which flow to the tenant occupants, and despite arguments that these benefits should be monetizable through uplifts in rentals that flow into capitalized asset values, this rarely seems to occur at present. This is part of sustainable built environments’ ‘viscous circle of blame’ (Cadman, 2007); • Increases in usable areas, if not net lettable areas. In this study’s building it was observed that because of the façade design – full height glazing – occupant desks were arranged away from the façade as a buffer against excessive internal surface temperatures, localized heat gain and glare.

8 Conclusion This paper establishes the viability of a sophisticated methodology useful for analyzing sustainable refurbishments as life cycle investments. The methodology has been developed by integrating a suite of simulation tools spanning from building energy performance to life cycle asset management. While the results reported here come from a limited number of simulations, those calculations used actual building data as inputs and are based on a selection of realistic variables; variables that could be expanded to examine the effects of changes to other technical, building aspects and investment data. The, albeit limited, results here show that sets of improvements to make buildings sustainable at 5 to 6-star NABERS levels should include façade and HVAC refurbishments. Further research is required to examine a greater selection of variables and multiple buildings to provide more generalizable results and more widely applicable guidance to asset owners in making decisions about investments to reduce their assets’ GHG emissions. Acknowledgments. We wish to acknowledge the contribution made to this work by other staff of Meinhardt Australia – Tony Alvaro and Ian Gardner, our research assistants Myles Bunning and Daoren Lai, and finally, our asset owner who, at present, requires anonymity. Also, Dr Frank Bromilow whose life cycle asset management model was used in this work.

References Arndt, M.: Green Arches: LEED Honors for McDonald’s HQ. Business Week (18/05/2009), http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/may2009/ id20090518_510777.htm?campaign_id=rss_daily (accessed 5/06/09) Australian Government, Mandatory Disclosure of Commercial Building Energy Efficiency, Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (December 2008)

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Cadman, D.: Centre for the study of sustainable buildings: The carbon challenge (2007), http://www.bne.uwe.ac.uk/cssb/docs/carbonchallenge_davidcad man.pdf (accessed 7/03/10) Garnaut, R.: The Garnaut climate change review: final report. Cambridge University Press, Port Melbourne (2008) Hertzsch, E.: Systematik von energiesparenden und lichtlenkenden Fassadenkomponenten im Gewerbebau (Systematic approach for energy efficient façade design in office buildings), Dr.-Ing (PhD thesis), University of Stuttgart, Germany (1999) Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Fourth Assessment Report (Climate Change 2007) Kelly, J., Hunter, K.: Life cycle costing for sustainable design, RICS Research Report, London (2009), https://www.rics.org Langdon, D.: Opportunities for Existing Buildings - Deep Emission Cuts (2008) Langdon, D.: Retrogreening Offices in Australia, Research Report (2009), http://www.davislangdon.com/upload/StaticFiles/AUSNZ%20Publ ications/Technical%20Reports/Retrogreening-offices-inAustralia.pdf (accessed 06/06/2009) McNamara, P.: Sustainability and Real Estate: Understanding the Implications (2008) RAIA, Transport, Planning and the Built Environment, Granaut Climate Change Review, Issues Paper 5 (April 2008) Stern, N.: Stern Review on the economics of climate change. HM Treasury, London (2006) Warren Centre, Low energy High rise: Suite of Initiatives Report, Warren Centre, University of Sydney (2009), http://www.warren.usyd.edu.au

Advent of Climate Change and Resultant Energy Related Obsolescence in the Built Environment T.E. Butt 1,*, B.D. Giddings2, J.C. Cooper1, B.B.N. Umeadi3, and K.G. Jones1 1

University of Greenwich, Avery Hill Campus, Bexley Road, Eltham, London, PostCode: SE9 2PQ, England, UK Tel.: +44(0)7817 139170 e-mail: [email protected], [email protected] 2 School of Built Environment, Northumbria University, Ellison Building, Newcastle upon Tyne, PostCode: NE1 8ST, England, UK 3 NanoMind IDC 160-166 Kensington High Street, London, PostCode: W8 7RG, England, UK Tel.: 44 (0) 203 006 7103 e-mail: [email protected]

Abstract. By 2050s the UK is expected to experience: increase in average summer mean temperatures (predicted to rise by upto 3.5oC) and frequency of heatwaves / very hot days; and increases in winter precipitation (of up to 20%) and possibly more frequent severe storms. Also, in 2050s approximately 70% of UK buildings will have been built before 2010, which due to aforesaid climate change factors will suffer from various types of obsolescence – including energy related obsolescence. Thus, if sustainable built environment is to accommodate climate change and the investment in these buildings (which was approximately £129 billions in 2007 in the UK alone) is to be protected, action needs to be taken now to assess the vulnerability and resilience of the existing UK built environment; and plan adaptation / mitigation interventions, that allow to continue to support the quality of life and well-being of UK citizens. The situation with other countries around the globe is not dissimilar, although there may be some variation in nature and quantity of climate change, and the way climate change impacts manifest themselves in relation to the resources and governance of a given country. Failure to act now will mean that the costs of tackling climate change in future will be much higher, jeopardising not only environmental but also economic sustainability. In view of these concerns, this paper will focus on obsolescence that is associated with energy and climate change. The climate change factors that shall be specifically covered include global warming, flooding, carbon emissions, carbon cut targets, environmental legislation and building regulations. Obsolescence types are categorised into direct and indirect obsolescence groups. Moreover, although the paper will mention both generation and consumption of energy, the later shall be more specifically addressed due to accelerating demand of power as well as *

Corresponding author.

R.J. Howlett, L.C. Jain, & S.H. Lee (Eds.): Sustainability in Energy and Buildings, SIST 7, pp. 211–224. springerlink.com © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2011

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pressures for efficient energy consumption in buildings to cut carbon emissions. Finally, in light of to date literature review, the paper will emphasise requirement of a fundamental framework for identification and categorisation of energy related obsolescence in the built environment, which shall attract interests for further investigation from both researchers and practitioners.

1 Introduction Any constituent (such as a building or infrastructure) of built environment grows to become obsolete or suffers increasing obsolescence over time. There is a host of factors which play a role either alone or collectively to cause obsolescence. Examples of these factors are not only conventional such as aging, wear & tear, but also, rather contemporary factors including energy consumption efficiency, environmental pressures such as reduction of carbon emissions, legislation / regulations, change of use, clean and waste water management, water quality and resources, land use, land contamination / soil quality, changing occupier / end user demands, sustainable waste management, ecological concerns, health & safety, and climate change. These factors can be categorised in different groups from various perspectives. However, the main focus of this paper is those factors which can be addressed under the banner of climate change category in the context of climate change mitigation and / or adaptation. However, the paper’s scope is not a specific constituent type of built environment (e.g. a certain building type or infrastructure class) or a specific constituent itself (e.g. a given commercial building, a given hospital, a specific stretch of railway or road network, etc.). The paper is to consider obsolescence in a broad sense around various climate change phenomena and yet with focus to energy. Currently, the most widely accepted climate change scenarios or projections predict increases of between 1 to 3.5oC for the global annual average temperatures (Crawley, 2010). On the top of global warming as a result of climate change, over the past few decades, there has been a significant trend towards increasingly larger urban areas. This concentration of transportation infrastructure and buildings often results in urban heat islands – increasing of the cooling loads on buildings. For example, London Heathrow, Los Angeles, and Phoenix have all seen average temperature increases of at least 1oC over the past few decades (Crawley, 2010). Further more, floods, storms, droughts, and extreme temperatures strike communities around the globe each year. The top ten disasters of 2004, in terms of the number of people affected, were all weather and climate-related. These types of disasters have occurred throughout history but with total damages amounting to US$130 billion from just these ten events, it is clear that the necessary steps to reduce disasters have not yet been taken (CRED, 2005a; 2005b). As climate change begins to manifest itself—in the form of increased frequency and intensity of hazards such as floods, storms, heat waves, and drought—the need for communities to address climate risks is becoming urgent. The coming decades are likely to bring, among other changes, altered precipitation patterns so that many areas will experience more frequent floods and landslides, while others will experience

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prolonged drought and wildfires (IPCC, 2001; IATF, 2010). This simply will also lead to increase degree of obsolescence both in buildings as well as infrastructures of our built environment around the world. Specifically for the UK, by 2050s the UK is expected to experience: increases in average summer mean temperatures (predicted to rise by up to 3.5oC) and frequency of heat-waves / very hot days; and increases in winter precipitation (of up to 20%) and possibly more frequent severe storms (Hulme et. al., 2002). Also, in 2050s approximately 70% of UK buildings will have been built before 2010. Thus, if the investment in these buildings, which was approximately £129 billion in 2007, (UK Status online, 2007), is to be protected, action needs to be taken now to assess the vulnerability and resilience of the existing UK built environment, and plan adaptation and mitigation interventions, that allow to continue to support the quality of life and well-being of UK citizens. Failure to act now will mean that the costs of tackling climate change in future will be much higher (CBI, 2007). The UK will also miss out on the commercial opportunities that will emerge on the pathway to a low carbon economy (CBI, 2007). Thus, there is a growing need for long-term investors, managers and other stake holders to be able to assess how resilient their real estate assets are to new regulations and changing occupier demands (Goodland, 2008), which, in fact, reflect on various types of obsolescences, including the energy related and climate change induced obsolescence. The biophysical properties of the urban environment are distinctive with a large building mass (350kg.m-2 in dense residential areas) and associated heat storage capacity, reduced greenspace cover (with its evaporative cooling and rainwater interception and infiltration functions) and extensive surface sealing (around 70% in high density settlement and city centres) which promotes rapid runoff of precipitation (Handley, 2010). Climate change amplifies this distinctive behaviour by strengthening the urban heat island (Gill et. al. 2004). This correspondingly leads to amplify climate change induced obsolescence in built environment (as explained with examples in Section 4.0). So it can be safely presumed as a general rule that the more the density of a built environment, correspondingly there is to be more the obsolescence, irrespective of drivers and reasons. For instance, London is one of the top most parts of the total UK built environment in terms of a range of elements such as geographical size, value, economy, human population, diversity, ecology and heritage. Furthermore, London is the capital of the UK and located near the North Sea, stretching around an estuary, and the River Thames running through it, thereby further adding significance and sensitivity to the city in hydro-logical context e.g. increased potential of pluvial, fluvial, tidal and coastal floods. Collectively along these wide-ranging elements, the overall London share in the total obsolescence over time in total UK built environment, most probably is to be larger than anywhere else in the UK, and probably one of the largest shares throughout the world.

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2 Obsolescence Definition and Types 2.1 Financial Obsolescence and Functional Obsolescence In the context of built environment, obsolescence can be defined as depreciation in value and / or usefulness due to an impairment of desirability and / or function caused by new inventions, current changes in design, improved processes of production, or external factors that make a property or infrastructure less desirable and valuable for a continued use. Thus, irrespective of reasons / causes, financial obsolescence means loss in value where as functional obsolescence is loss of usefulness, effectiveness, efficiency or productivity. The financial obsolescence is also termed as social or economic obsolescence, and functional obsolescence as technical obsolescence. (Cooper, 2004; Montgomery Law, 2010; Leeper Appraisal Services, 2010; Richmond Virginia Real Estate, 2003; Nky Condo Rentals, 2010: SMA Financing, 2009; Landmark Properties, 2010). 2.2 Internal Obsolescence and External Obsolescence Irrespective of whether obsolescence is in value or function or both, internal obsolescence in a component or built asset is due to factors that exist with in the component or built asset. For instance, general wear and tear, fatigue, corrosion, oxidation, evaporation, rusting, leaking of gas / water or any other fluid like coolant, breaking, age, etc. Where as external obsolescence is temporary or permanent impairment in value or usefulness of a built asset due to factors outside the system (where the boundaries of the system may not necessarily be physical but virtual) such as change in existing or advent of a new environmental legislation; carbon cut targets, carbon-social forces / pressure groups; arrival of new technology; enrichment of knowledge e.g. asbestos is no longer allowed to be used in the built environment; fluctuation in demand; inflation of currency; political stability / instability of a country; etc. 2.3 Climate Change Induced Obsolescence Irrespective of whether an obsolescence is internal or external and financial or functional, if a given obsolescence is due to impacts of climate change (e.g. more intense and more frequent rainfall, stronger and more frequent hurricanes, heatwave, flooding, etc.) is referred to as Climate Change Induced Obsolescence by the authors. More examples of climate change impacts are listed in Section 4.0. Those examples also demonstrate that climate change related obsolescence is predominantly external, rather than internal. 2.4 Energy Related Obsolescence Induced by Climate Change Irrespective of an obsolescence in the built environment is internal or external, financial or functional, if the obsolescence is induced due to climate change either directly or indirectly and is around systems, components or processes that are associated with energy at generation end, distribution or consumption end, is termed

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as energy related obsolescence induced due to climate change. This kind of obsolescence is the main focus of this paper.

3 Energy Related Obsolescence 3.1 European Perspective Energy related issues in terms of sustainable generation, consumption efficiency and environmental protection are not only national but also international. For instance, from European perspective, buildings are responsible for 40% of energy consumption and 36% of EU (European Union) CO2 emissions. The Directive of Energy Performance of Buildings (2002/91/EC) is the main legislative instrument at EU level to achieve energy performance in buildings (EU, 2002; EC 2010). Under this Directive, the Member States must apply minimum requirements as regards the energy performance of new and existing buildings, ensure the certification of their energy performance and require the regular inspection of boilers and air conditioning systems in buildings. Thus, at European level energy performance of buildings is key to achieve the EU Climate and Energy objectives, namely the reduction of a 20% of the greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 and a 20% energy savings by 2020. Many scientists and pressures groups are now calling for 40% reductions. For that to be achieved the built environment would have to take on a larger share of the burden. Improving the energy performance of buildings is a cost-effective way of fighting against climate change and improving energy security (EC, 2010; RUDI Ltd., 2010; Bell, 2004; EU, 2002). Although steps are being taken to cut carbon emissions from other areas such as road travel, reducing waste and water consumption, but the building sector as well as energy sector are becoming key areas of focus for carbon cuts which means growing potential of energy related obsolescence in European built environment. The situation is likely to become more challenging when the demand for energy has been always escalating. For example, demand for power has increased by 24% since 1990 and is predicted to grow by 2030 (DTI 2010, BIFM, 2007) 3.2 UK Perspective The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) in the UK has successfully taken three bills through the Parliament, which are now the Energy Act 2008, the Climate Change Act 2008 and the Energy Act 2010. Where as other Acts introduced by the Government which cover energy issues include Planning Act 2008 (which is of considerable importance for energy infrastructure projects) and the Planning and Energy Act 2008. (DECC, 2010a). Furthermore, Building Regulations which are made under powers provided in the Building Act 1984 and apply in England and Wales, are mainly found in The Building Regulations (2000 as amended) and The Building (Approved Inspectors) Regulations (2000 as amended). These legislation apply to new as well as existing buildings whether domestic, commercial or industrial; and specifically addresses energy efficiency in buildings. (DCLG, 2010). All these legislation together cover not only the

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consumption end of energy but also distribution as well as the generation end of energy. These legislation are deriving the UK towards energy conscious and efficient built environment via carbon cuts, climate change mitigation and adaptation, renewable energy exploitation, and efficient energy consumption in UK built environment. On the other hand, desired and required energy related improvements still have not picked up pace yet. For instance, Sustainable Development Commission (SDC) has said that the government had reported a 6.3% decrease in carbon emissions from its offices since the year 1999-2000, an insufficient reduction for it to hit a target of 12.5% reductions by 2011-12. And it was not nearly enough to contribute to the legally binding national goal to cut emissions by 80% by 2050 (Guardian, 2009). While there is a long way to go and yet in short space of time, carbon cuts are increasingly becoming more stringent. DECC stated in one of its white paper in the year 2007 that carbon emissions need to be cut by 60% by 2050 to meet energy challenge and yet without new nuclear power stations (DTI, 2007). While the Climate Act 2008 legally binds the UK to at least 80% reduction by 2050 and 34% by 2020 (DECC, 2010b). Although not a legal binding, the UK Green Building Council has stated that the UK can and must slash carbon emissions from the built environment by 50% by 2020, thus, even tighter car cut target (RUDI Ltd., 2010). Similarly, the Merton Rule, which was / is named after the council in the UK that adopted the first prescriptive planning policy of the Rule, states that new commercial buildings over 1,000 square metres require to generate at least 10% of their energy needs using on site renewable energy equipment. It was implemented and overseen by the then leader of Merton Council, Andrew Judge. The rule was developed and adopted in 2003, and its impact was so great that the Mayor of London and many other councils have also implemented it. Now it has also become part of national planning guidance. In 2008, the UK government published its central planning guidance Planning Policy Statement – Planning and Climate Change – PPS1 that requires all UK local planning authorities to adopt a “Merton Rule” policy. Receiving Royal Assent in November 2008, the Planning and Energy Act 2008 enables all councils in England and Wales to adopt a Merton Rule as well as specify energy efficiency standards over and above that of building regulations. (Wikipedia, 2010). These legislation and other instruments becoming more and more stringent by the day indicate how energy related obsolescence in built environment is at the verge of becoming substantially noticeable. Happening of this is expected throughout the energy ‘pipeline’, that is, generation end, distribution and consumption end.

4 Impacts on Maintenance / Refurbishment There is growing evidence that climate change is real, already observable, and threatening to undermine development. Therefore, climate adaptation continues to rise on the agendas of researchers, practitioners and decision-makers. On the other hand, the onus of adaptation to climate change directly lies with or impacts on maintenance and refurbishment of existing built environment. Even future

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developments are not safe from climate change unless adaptation is not integrated into not only in their design but also maintenance and refurbishment cycles, both in the form of practice as well as costs. Thus, any effective planning and development process will need to take climate adaptation into account throughout all stages from design through to decommissioning, including maintenance and / or refurbishment. While climate impacts are increasingly observed, the debate over managing adaptation has progressed very slowly. However, climate change adaptation is expected to accelerate rapidly and exponentially soon. One of the reasons of the acceleration shall surely be increased realisation which is yet to fully catch up with the reality. Relatively current slow realisation is in part due to confusion about relationship between adaptation and development – a definitional problem that has hindered not only project design, but also the allocation of funding to adaptation efforts. Notwithstanding the difficulty in developing a concise operational definition, failure to clarify this relationship has meant that funding mechanisms create redundancies or leave gaps in the landscape of critical adaptation, development, maintenance and refurbishment activities (WRI, 2010). Being specific to energy related obsolescence, the picture is not dissimilar to this. Common examples of climate change factors (both causes and / or affects) that have already begin to cause energy related obsolescence to the built environment (both directly or indirectly) and have substantial potential to further increase climate change induced obsolescence in future, are: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Flooding (fluvial, tidal and pluvial due to e.g. more frequent and more intensive rainfall); Coastal flooding due to sea level rise; Over-heating (due to global warming as average annual global temperature is rising); Corrosion (due to acidic rain, more frequent and more intensive storms / hurricanes); Coastal corrosion; Drying out of water bodies such as lakes; Ultra-violet (UV) sun rays due to ozone layer depletion; Resources depletion e.g. deforestation; Wildfire; Drought; Landslides; Hurricanes; Environmental pollution e.g. greenhouse gas emissions; Environmental and legislative pressures e.g. to reduce carbon emissions; etc. etc.

Below are a few examples described to indicate how climate change impacts are causing and / or have potential to cause energy related obsolescence either directly or indirectly and add burden on maintenance and refurbishment:

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Enhanced cooling / air conditioning in buildings The1990s was the warmest decade in central England since records began in the 1660s. Summer heat-waves are now happening more frequently and in winter there are fewer frosts. Globally, over the past century, the average temperature of the atmosphere near the earth’s surface has risen by 0.74oC. Eleven of the 12 hottest years on record occurred between 1995 and 2006. The scientific consensus is that global temperatures could rise between 1.1 and 6.4oC above 1980 – 1999 levels by the end of 21st century. The exact amount depends on the levels of future greenhouse gas emissions. (Directgov, 2010). This happening phenomenon is already demanding our current residential and commercial built environment for extra cooling (consequently more energy consumption) to achieve comfort zone during heatwaves in particular. This could also affect our road infrastructure for heat-waves could have adverse affect on roads charcoal and quality. Various industrial processes may also be affected due to ambient temperature rise. All of these scenarios are resulting and will increasingly result in obsolescence, thus demanding more maintenance and refurbishment incurring more costs and energy consumption as well as greenhouse gas emissions. Global warming has already started and has further potential to cause energy associated obsolescence in buildings in different ways e.g. cooling systems becoming out of date / obsolete to whatever degrees. This can be deemed as directly climate change related obsolescence. Flooding risks to residential and commercial properties UK coastal waters have warmed by about 0.7oC over the past three decades. In addition, the average sea level around the UK is now about 10 cm higher than it was in 1900. Globally, sea level could rise by 18 to 59 cm by the end of the century. Rising sea levels would swamp some small, low-lying island states and put millions of people in low-lying areas at risk of flooding (Directgov, 2010). Consider an existing residential area near by a coastal line or along a tidal river stretch. Given that these residences would be containing items such as electric cookers, microwave oven, refrigerators and freezers, washing machines, dishwashers, tumble dryers, carpets, vacuum cleaners, cars, radio and CD players, CDs / DVDs, Hi-Fi stereo, video equipment, televisions, telephones and answer machines, computers and peripherals, toys, power distributions and accessories, sentimental value items, etc. (Cooper, 2004). Climate change includes more rain and more flooding. Thus, if a pluvial, fluvial or coastal flooding occurs, all these listed items if subjected to flood water are to become obsolete. Not to mention damage that flooding will cause to the fabric of buildings and houses. Thus, if refurbishments take place post-flooding, the cost could be incredible, depending not only on degree of flooding intensity but also other factors such as how dense the residential area is, how well planned it is, etc. In the context of adaptation, a number of steps could be taken either at individual property level or communal level, for examples, raising and strengthening flood banks and their regular maintenance to control their obsolescence. In planning applications for various developments, Environment Agency in England and Wales is consulted on flood risk assessments seeking implementation of flood resistant and resilient approaches (ODPM, 2001; 2005;

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2006; DCLG, 2007; DEFRA, 2005a; 2005b). Whereas if a given development is new and in planning stage finished floor levels can be set above 1 in 100 year flood level plus allowance for climate change and 300mm freeboard for hard flood defences and 500mm for soft flood defences (ODPM, 2006; DCLG, 2007). The same discussion also implies in principle to commercial properties though additional losses due to flooding include disruption of businesses. Thus, flooding is a potential source of external obsolescence directly increasing maintenance and refurbishment requirements and costs. All the aforesaid items that may be either completely damaged and / or partly due to flooding, will require either replacement or repair. Also, electrical wires need to be fed from top-to-down and electrical appliances as well as power points / switches need be set above flood level. All these activities require energy either on-site and / or off-site where different products are produced and supplied to end users in the flood affected areas. In energy context this kind of obsolescence can be seen as directly associated with climate change. Acid Rain The term ‘acid rain’ refers to both wet and dry deposition of acidic pollutants that may damage material surfaces including corrosion of metals and deterioration of paint and stone (such as marble and limestone). These materials constitute our built environment. Thus, acid rain effects can significantly reduce the societal value of buildings, bridges, cultural objects (such as statues, monuments, and tombstones) as well as leading to increased maintenance and refurbishment costs (EPA, 2007). Since air emissions are escalating and correspondingly more acid rain, therefore maintenance and refurbishment costs are likely to be much higher in future than they are now to keep built environment constituents from suffering from external obsolescence directly related to climate change. Similarly, acid rain also adversely impacts vegetation or plant life. This means open space green areas as well as any other vegetation in the built environment can also be affected by acid rain, thereby increasing their maintenance amount, frequency and costs. Whether it is repainting or treating (external) building fabric surfaces, will require energy which is increasingly becoming an expensive commodity. Sea ports Climate change can impact ports in a variety of ways. For instance, increases in power and duration of storm surges; coastal flooding and changes to erosion pattern can impact infrastructure and dredging requirements; wave attack at higher sea levels can increase the vulnerability of structure over time, as can increase in frequency and duration of storms (Shipping Industry News, 2009). All such potentials and incidents if happen have strong likelihood to cause obsolescence to various degrees which may require increased levels and frequencies of maintenance. Such maintenance activities simply means transport of equipment and materials to and from the site, arising of waste and disposal, etc. which all require energy to accomplish one way or another. Thus, even more greenhouse gas emissions.

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5 Discussion and Concluding Remarks Irrespective of reasons or causes of obsolescence, the prime affect of it is reduction in performance and, consequently, not appropriately meeting demands, requirements and expectations of the end user of a given building, structure, infrastructure or any other constituent / unit of built environment. It is maintenance and refurbishment which attempts to eradicate obsolescence, to whatever degree this may be, to avoid rebuilding / redevelopment. Consequently, as the afore-listed climate change impacts (Section 4.0) intensify and become more frequent over time, the climate change induced obsolescence correspondingly will increasingly lead to substantially more expensive maintenances and refurbishments and yet more often, thereby reducing maintenance and refurbishment cycles’ length and escalating frequency and costs. Furthermore, if enough measures / interventions are not implemented in time, this could even lead to redevelopment i.e. demolition and fully rebuilding at the same place or even geographical relocation of the new resultant development, which could raise additional siting / relocation issues in a whole host of sustainability seeking efforts. Whether obsolescence compromises performance of a system, or increases maintenance and refurbishment amount and frequency, or even result in rebuilding / redevelopment, in all cases it requires energy (which generally means additional greenhouse gas emissions) and eventually all these stress finances and economy of an organisation. Thus, further research is needed to relate climate change induced obsolescence factors (both causes and affects) with in-time maintenance and refurbishment cycles (including energy demand, supply and efficient consumption); such that the given built environment scenario does not loose its performance both as a physical built asset as well as operational, and continues performing efficiently with cost-effective maintenance and / or refurbishment. In the literature review, no evidence has been found of such a holistic framework which could assemble all these aspects together under one umbrella. The ongoing research study reported in this paper is investigating how climate change is to cause obsolescence and consequent affects on built environment, which predominantly comprises buildings and infrastructures. The former category includes offices / commercial buildings, structures (e.g. tunnels, bridges, dams, etc.), residential buildings (e.g. houses, flats, etc.), schools, churches, factories; and the latter predominantly comprises utilities, energy and transportation. Thus, built environment is not only physically built assets but also contains other aspects such as facilities, products, materials, commodities, services, energy, comfort, health & safety, and operational facets (McClure and Bartuska, 2007; Wikipedia, 2009). All such aspects and facets of a unit / constituent (e.g. a given building or an infrastructure) of a built environment are collectively termed as overall performance of the unit / constituent, by the authors. That is performance comprises both a given built asset itself (e.g. fabric of a building) as well as various operational / functional elements such as cooling / heating in the building. Both of these require and consume energy one way or another, either directly or indirectly. The focus of this research is energy related obsolescence either directly or indirectly driven by climate change impacts.

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As stated earlier, this underway research project is establishing causes and effects regarding energy related obsolescence and specifically in the climate change context. Then those factors (both causes and affects) shall be further investigated to find which crucially relate to the overall performance of built environment (inclusive of both, buildings and infrastructures). Thus, the project is to address not only physical aspects of the built environment but also operational facets. The identified factors shall be categorised in a holistic set of logical groups and subgroups particularly along the sustainability dimensions i.e. social, environmental and economic. Later the project shall investigate which of these factors are more frequent and influential / sensitive for various scenarios e.g. a certain aspect of maintenance / refurbishment like boilers / heating system, a certain industry like oil refinery, a certain set of buildings such as houses, etc. From the review of literature and models to date (e.g. Allehaux and Tessier, 2002; Jones and Sharp, 2007; Acclimatise, 2009) it is established that especially from the perspective of climate change related factors and subsequently growing pressures for efficient energy consumption in built environment, there is lack of knowledge, models, and holistic approaches towards integrating maintenance and refurbishment cycles with the performance and life-cycle of a given built asset / building or infrastructure. On the other hand, in 2005 built asset maintenance and refurbishment accounted for approximately 45% of the total UK construction output (DTI, 2006); employed 1.17 million individuals and represented approximately 6.2% of the UK’s Gross Added Value (Dye and Sosimi, 2006). In view of such facts, in summary, this research is identifying knowledge gaps to establish bases for future research to develop a holistic framework to assist obsolescence assessment around climate change impacts, then a knowledge-base procedure, which shall be translated into a computational methodology and then probably eventually an expert system. This framework will be flexible to be narrowed down to climate change induced obsolescence and yet specifically in context of energy. The research project is not to consider only causes and effects of climate change induced obsolescence in the built environment, but also more or less account for how maintenance and refurbishment can be designed, developed and delivered so that the resultant built environment following the maintenance and refurbishment does not constitute to climate change. For instance, for a given building the air conditioning aspect is considered for maintenance / refurbishment. This cooling system should be maintained and refurbished not only with the purpose to render the building cooler in order to be climate change resilient to outweigh the rising average global temperature (i.e. climate change adaptation). But, this should be achieved in such a sustainable / green manner that the cooling system does not consume too much energy to prevent additional greenhouse gases and thereby not additionally contributing to the average global temperature rise. In other words, low carbon cooling systems and approaches to combat the global temperature rise, should be designed, developed and employed (i.e. climate change mitigation). Thus, the care needs to be taken at both ends, i.e. render the built environment (buildings and infrastructures) climate change resilient but at the same time without causing any escalation in, rather reduction if and where possible to, climate change already happening. In view of this, it can be said that

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not only climate change mitigation but adaptation as well are expected to accelerate soon not only due to continually growing evidence of climate change and impacts but also escalating realisation as evident from the way carbon cut targets are becoming stringent.

References Acclimatise, Building Business Resilience to Inevitable Climate Change, Carbon Disclosure Project Report 2008, Global Oil and Gas, Acclimatise and Climate Risk Management Limited, Oxford (2009) Dominique, A., Tessier, P.: Evaluation of the functional obsolescence of building services in European office buildings. Energy and Buildings 34, 127–133 (2002) Bell, M.: Energy Efficiency in Existing Building: The Role of Building Regulations. In: Ellis, R., Bell, M. (eds.) COBRA Proc. of the RICS Foundation Construction and Building Research Conference, London, Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), Leeds Metropolitan University, UK, September 7-8 (2004) BIFM (British Institute of Facilities Management), Position Paper: Energy, Executive Summary, BIFM (January 10, 2010) CBI (Confederation of British Industry), Climate Change: Everyone’s business, CBI (2007) Cooper, T.: Inadequate Life? Evidence of Consumer Attitudes to Product Obosolescence. Journal of Consumer Policy 27, 421–449 (2004) Crawley, D.B.: Impact of climate change on buildings, University of Starthclyde, Glasgow, Scotland, UK, https://www.cibse.org/pdfs/4bcrawley.pdf (viewed March 2010) CRED (Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters), 2005 disasters in numbers, Top 10 countries (2005b), http://www.unisdr.org/ disaster-statistics/pdf/2005-disaster-in-number.pdf (viewed March 2010) CRED (Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters), International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, Disaster Statistics – Top 50 countries (2005a), http://www.unisdr.org/disaster-statistics/pdf/isdrdisaster-statistics-50top-countries-pdf (viewed March 2010) DCLG (Communities and Local Government). Planning, building and the environment – Building Regulations, http://www.communities.gov.uk/ planningandbuilding/buildingregulations/ (viewed April 2010) DCLG (Department for Communities and Local Government), Development and Flood Risk: A Practice Guide Companion to PPS25 ‘Living Draft’, Crown Copyright (2007) DECC (Department of Energy and Climate Change), Climate Change Act (2008), http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/legislation/cc_act_08 /cc_act_08.aspx (viewed April 2010b) DECC (Department of Energy and Climate Change), Legislation, http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/legislation/ legislation.aspx (viewed April 2010a) DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs); Department for Transport; ODPM (Office of Deputy Prime Minister); and HM Treasury. Executive Summary, Making Space for Water – Taking forward a new Government strategy for flood and coastal erosion risk management in England, Crown Copyright (March 2005a)

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DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs); Department for Transport; ODPM (Office of Deputy Prime Minister); and HM Treasury. Making Space for Water – Taking forward a new Government strategy for flood and coastal erosion risk management in England, Crown Copyright (March 2005b) Directgov, Effects of climate change, http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Environmentandgreenerliving/ Thewiderenvironment/Climate (March 12, 2010) DTI (Department of Trade and Industry), Energy – Its impacts on environment and Society – Chapter 3, http://www.dti.gov.uk/files/file20300.pdf (viewed May 2010) DTI (Department of Trade and Industry), Meeting the Energy Challenge, A White Paper on Energy, HM Government, TSO (The Stationary Office) (May 2007) DTI (Department of Trade Industry), Construction Statistics Annual, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke (2006) Dye, J., Sosimi, J.: The United Kingdom National Account. Palgrave Macmillans, Basingstoke (2006) EC European Commission – Energy (ManagEnergy), COM 2002/91/EC: Directive on the Energy Performance of Buildings, http://www.managenergy.net/products/ R210.htm ManagEnergy, Last modified (March 09, 2010) EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), Effects of Acid Rain, http://www.epa.gov/acidrain/effects/ (June 8, 2007) EU (European Union), Directive 2009/91/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of on the energy performance of buildings. OJ L1/65 (4-1-2003) (December16, 2002) Gill, S., Pauleit, S., Ennos, A.R., Lindley, S.J., Handley, J.F., Gwilliam, J., UeberjahnTritta, A.: Literature review: Impacts of climate change on urban environment. CURE, University of Manchester (available on line) (2004) Goodland, J. (ed.): Unlocking future value in commercial real estate, Watson Wyatt Limited (October 2008), http://www.climatewise.org.uk/storage/publications/ 2008-EU-0480_Unlocking_future_value_%20final.pdf (viewed November 2009) Guardian, UK government missing own carbon cut targets, http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/may/01/ government-failing-emissions-targets (May 01, 2009) Handley, J.F.: Adaptation strategies for climate change in the urban environment (ASCCUE), Narrative report for GR/S19233/01, http://www.sed.manchester.ac.uk/research/cure/downloads/ asccue-epsrc-report.pdf (viewed March 2010) Hulme, et al.: Climate change scenarios for the United Kingdom: The UKCIP 2002 Scientific Report, Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, p. 120 (2002) IATF (Inter-Agency Task Force on Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction), Disaster Risk Reduction Tools and Methods for Climate Change Adaptation, http://www.unisdr.org/eng/risk-reduction/ climate-change/docs/DDR-tools-CCA-UNFCC.pdf; (IATF Working Group on Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction, Viewed March 2010)

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IPCC, Climate Change : Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Third Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press (2001) Jones, K.G., Sharp, M.: A new performance-based process model for built asset maintenance. Facilities 25(13/14), 525–535 (2007) Landmark Properties – Commercial Real Estate, Real Estate Dictionary, http://www.allaboutskyscrapers.com/dictionary/e.htm (viewed March 2010) Leeper Appraisal Services, California Appraisal / Appraisers, http://www.leeperappraisal.com/appraiser_jargon.htm (viewed March 2010) McClure, W.R., Bartuska, T.J.: The built environment: a collaborative inquiry into design and planning, 2nd edn. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Chichester (2007) Montgomery Law, Family Law Glossary, http://www.montylaw.com/familylaw-glossaryo.php (viewed March 2010) Nky Condo Rentals – Rodney Gillum (2010), http://www.nkycondorentals.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/terms.l ist/letter/O/contentid/511AF257-5436-459581BBAA7704C1AC40 (viewed March 2010) ODPM (Office of the Deputy Prime Minister), Consultation on Planning Policy Statement 25: Development and flood risk, ODPM (December 2005) ODPM (Office of the Deputy Prime Minister), Planning Policy Guidance 25: Development and flood risk, ODPM, (July 2001) ODPM (Office of the Deputy Prime Minister), Planning Policy Statement 25: Development and flood risk, ODPM, (December 2006) Richmond Virginia Real Estate, Real Estate Dictionary(2003), http://www.therichmondsite.com/Blogs/Dictionary_O.html (viewed March 2010) RUDI Ltd., Built Environment carbon emissions should be cut by 50% by 2020, challenges green body, http://www.rudi.net/node/21688 (viewed April 2010) Shipping Industry News, Climate change study looks at impact on ports (December17 2009), http://www.shippingindustry.com.au/Content/articles/Cliamat e-change Viewed March 2010 SMA Financing, Real Estate Glossary (2009), http://www.smafinancing.com/ glossary.htm (viewed March 2010) UK Status online, Gross Fixed Capital Formation at Chained Volume Measure (2007) Wikipedia – the Free Encyclopaedia, Built Environment, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Built_environment (Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. viewed: November 2009) Wikipedia (the free encyclopedia), The Merton Rule, http://www.en.wikipedia.org.uk/wiki/The_Merton_Rule (viewed April 2010) WRI (World Resources Institute), Weathering the Storm, Executive Summary, WRI, http://www.wri.org/publications/ weathering-the-storm/executive-summary (viewed March 2010)

Environmental Attitudes and Energy Initiatives within the Greek Hotel Sector Eva Maleviti, Yacob Mulugetta, and Walter Wehrmeyer Centre for Environmental Strategy, University of Surrey, GU2 7XH, Guildford, UK

Abstract. This paper describes the Greek hoteliers’ attitudes about energy initiatives and their implementation to their facilities. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the interaction between the users’ behaviour and the way energy is consumed in Greek hotels in a long-term period. This paper is part of a wider research project that explores the energy consumption in several Greek hotels. Through interviews with open-ended questions, their responses reveal their opinions and the level of information they have on the existing legislation-Greek and European- on energy use in buildings. Further than that, two scenarios are developed, using the Long Range Energy Alternative Planning software (LEAP). Each one of them exhibits different findings proposing significant but easy to apply alterations to hotels. The first one is the Business as Usual scenario, and it is developed based on the current trends in energy use in hotels. The second is the Policy scenario which is developed based on the existing legislative framework, Greek and EU.

1 Introduction The Greek hotel sector is examined in this paper, in conjunction with the effect of the existing legislation on it, in the long-term. Every hotel has its own distinctive energy characteristics. There are differences in the way energy is consumed in each facility since they are located in islands or mountainous areas or in city centers, they vary in size and in number of rooms. In addition, the high amounts of electricity and oil consumption in hotels, along with the absence of renewable energy technologies indicate the need to promote a green way of energy use. Hence, it is important to examine and evaluate possibilities that would reduce the energy consumption in hotels, evaluating also the effectiveness of the policy on them. Simultaneously, the attitudes of hotel owners’ or managers play an important role on the application of the policy framework in their facilities. Their opinions are examined.

2 Energy Overview in Greek Hotels Hotels represent about 0.26% of the total Greek buildings. Despite their small percentage comparing to the total building stock, they are responsible for the 29% of the energy consumption in the private sector. This is explained by the AC space

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heating and cooling equipment, hot water needs, facilities and services offered and the number of the tourist arrivals during the hotels’ operation (Gaglia, 2006). Various types of fuels used, such as electricity, gas, diesel fuel, natural gas. Still, the main energy source used is electricity, generally for air-conditioning, heating, lighting, lifts, kitchen equipment and many static and portable appliances. This explains that the energy cost in hotels is high (Mavrotas, 2003). Heating is responsible for the highest amount of energy consumption in hotels, since the main fuel used is oil. Natural gas is lower in use, but this is possible to change in the next years as it is expected to replace oil use. (Santamouris, 1996). A series of policies not only Greek but also European could be implemented in the hotel sector, aiming to improve its energy performance. The legislative framework refers to the National Climate Change Programme for Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction; the National Action Plan for Energy Efficiency; the European Action Plan for Energy Efficiency and the Directives embraced in it. The Building Directive 2002/91/EC, the Directive 2006/32/EC for Energy End-use Efficiency and Energy Services and the Directive 2005/32/EC for Eco-design requirements for energy-using products.1

3 Energy Analysis This section analyses the two energy scenarios, Business as Usual and Policy using the Long Range Energy Alternative Planning (LEAP) energy modelling tool. The total sample of 28 hotels is divided in 14 four star hotels and 14 five star hotels. The following figures display the energy consumption in each cluster and the changes that occur from the assumptions considered. 3.1 Four Star Hotels 3.1.1 Business as Usual Scenario This scenario is developed under the current trend of energy use in 4 star hotels. During the data collection was observed that the efficient lighting is commonly used in this sample, with a possible growth in use 5 to 10% per year by 2020, as hoteliers declared. Furthermore, the use of natural gas is expected to increase the next decade, with the level of penetration to be almost 20% by 2020, as the Ministry of Development estimates (2008). Generally, it concerns commercial buildings, and hotels as part of this sector, would be affected as well. In addition, the Ministry of Development (2008), gave estimates about fuels consumption and growth in use for the commercial sector. It is expected that by 2020, electricity use would increase by 1.5% per year and oil consumption by 3.5% per year. In addition, the use of hot water and heating services to increase in terms of use and consumption, with 3% increase of fuels used for this service. In Figure 1, the activity of each service in the building is displayed. 1

See Maleviti, E. (2009), The Influence of Various Factors on Hotels' Carbon Footprints under the Implementation of the EU and Greek Legislative Framework, Sustainability in Energy and Buildings: Proceeding in the International Conference in Energy and Buildings, Brighton, 2009 for detailed analysis of the policy framework.

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Fig. 1. Final energy consumption in 4* hotels in the Business as Usual scenario

Figure 1 displays that if the current trend is followed, the final energy consumption could be remain similar levels by the year 2020. This scenario has been developed considering that the occupancy rates are following the same trend as in the past 5 years. Therefore, the Business as Usual scenario is not negative in terms of energy use. This indicates that if the use of efficient lighting and efficient equipment increase, then energy consumption would be reduced without major alterations. 3.1.2 Policy Scenario This section analyses the effect of the Greek legislative framework on the four star hotels, with a detailed result of the effect of each one of the measures, on every specific service of the hotels.

Fig. 2. Final Energy Consumption in 4 star hotels in the Policy scenario

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Figure 2 displays the effectiveness of the policy framework. The measures could reduce the total energy consumption from the year 2007 to the end year 2020, by 150MWh. The electricity consumption in lighting could be decreased by 35MWh by the year 2020 under the policy measures. According to that measure, it is possible 50% of the conventional lighting to be replaced with efficient lighting. In addition, the use of efficient electrical equipment is expected to increase by 15% to 20% per year, such as refrigeration and cooling services. The replacement of efficient mini-bars in rooms and the equipmnet in areas, such as bars and restaurants, where autonomous units are used, could reduce electricity consumption by 30MWh by the year 2020. The same assumption is used in laundry facilities which are responsible for the highest electricity consumption, among the other services, and that the electricity consumption is 280MWh. These measures could decrease this amount by 60MWh by 2020. Hot water is used in rooms for customers use, in kitchen and laundry services through the facilities of each case, and in few cases of four star hotels for leisure facilities such as showers in gyms, or spa areas. Hot water is responsible for the 12% of the total energy consumption in the hotels of this category. The assumptions and measures considered are shown in Table 2. In four-star hotels of this project, only 15% of the total energy used for hot water is covered form solar thermal panels. However, the policy framework does not include specific information on how many kW of solar thermal panels needs to be installed, and what are the needs that are going to be covered. Heating is responsible for 120MWh. It is very important to find measure to apply them in order to reduce the energy use for that service. The policy framework includes measures for improved thermal insulation, which could reduce the energy consumption in the building by 2% per year. In addition, the installation of solar thermal panels could reduce the energy consumption in heating by 10% per year. Energy consumption in heating services could be reduced by almost 25MWh by 2020. According the policy framework, the use of solar energy is expected to replace the 50% of oil and LPG use. In addition, the use of natural gas is expected to grow replacing also a significant share of oil consumption. Cooling services, are responsible for 187MWh of electricity consumption in total, in the four-star hotels of the project. The measures concern the use of efficient equipment, thermal insulation and information about rational use of energy in the building. Following these measures, the electricity consumption could be reduced by almost 30MWh. 3.2 Five Star Hotels 3.2.1 Business as Usual This section displays the Business as Usual scenario for the five star hotels of the selected sample of the research. The alterations considered in the facilities are the use of efficient lighting with a low level of penetration, the use of efficient electrical equipment and replacement of obsolete and inefficient, and increase of natural gas use replacing other fuels that are more expensive and with high environmental

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effects, such as oil, LPG and electricity. In addition in the following results, assumptions concerning the use in services and the growth in fuels are included, and they are displayed in Table 1.

Fig. 3. Total final energy consumption by service in five star hotels 3.2.2 Policy Scenario The results from the policy scenario are displayed in the figure 4. The assumptions considered in this scenario are the increased use of efficient lighting, aiming at a decrease of approximately 30% by 2020, as the Ministry of Development includes in the National Action Plan for Energy Efficiency (2008), for the buildings of the commercial sector. Furthermore, the use of electrical equipment is expected to replace old and inefficient ones, in services such as laundry services, cooking, refrigeration and air-conditioning. Furthermore, improvement of thermal insulation in buildings could reduce the energy consumption by almost 5% in annual basis per building, since heating losses are prevented. It is observed that the policy measurements for lighting services could be effective in five star hotels. By the year 2020 and the implementation of the policy measurements for lighting, it is possible for a reduction of almost 270 MWh in electricity consumption for lighting. The policy scenario could contribute in an approximate reduction in energy consumption in cooking facilities of 150MWh by 2020. This could be achieved with the use of more efficient electrical equipment in the kitchen, with control and information to the staff to use rationally the equipment such as switching them on only when needed. Refrigeration in hotels is responsible for high electricity use. It includes the refrigeration equipment in the rooms, as mini bars, in the kitchen and in the restaurant and bars of the hotels. Efficient equipment could reduce electricity by almost 90MWh by 2020.

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Fig. 4. Final energy consumption in the policy scenario in 5 star hotels

As figure 4 displays, the heating services in five star hotels have the highest share with 700MWh for the year 2007. Due to this large energy consumption, the policy framework suggests the installation of solar thermal panels, which decrease energy consumption by 10%per year. Additional measures such as thermal insulation to the buildings, information to the customers on how to control the energy consumption and energy management systems could contribute by almost 140MWh reduction by 2020. The use of electrical efficient air-conditions, could also decrease significantly with the use replacement of existing with efficient equipment. A combination of rational use of equipment, thermal insulation of the building and energy management systems, along with the use of efficient equipment could reduce electricity consumption by approximately 100MWh by 2020. Energy consumption in hot water facilities is expected to increase by 2020 around 3% per year. The policy scenario shows that there would be an increase as well despite the proposed measures mentioned earlier, by almost 4MWh by 2020. The success of the framework is not only when energy consumption is decreased but also when the growth is low. The policy framework requires the compulsory use of thermal solar panels for hot water. Assuming a 10% increase in use of solar thermal panels per year by 2020. For laundry services, the policy framework could reduce the electricity consumption by almost 50MWh by 2020. The combination of the measurements included in Table 2 affect significantly the total electricity consumption. Other services included are the gym and spa facilities. The final energy consumption in these services comes mainly from the hours that the equipment are staying switched on without been used. The replacement of the existing equipment

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with electrical efficient ones would reduce consumption by only 4MWh by 2020. This is because there are no available types of efficient equipment to replace the existing.

4 Hoteliers’ Attitudes on Environmental Initiatives At this point, it is essential to note that there is an indicative significance between chain hotels and individual establishments. The first have developed their own company policies and thus it is likely to be relevant with other hotels that belong in the same chain. It is therefore reasonable to consider that hotels of the same chain may have similar environmental initiatives. An attitude that has been already expressed in other projects (Bohdanowicz, 2005). Interest on the environment Hoteliers who participated in the survey were asked if the environmental issues play an important role for the hotels operations and consequently the development of tourism. Almost seven out of ten respondents expressed that these issues are important for tourism. However, they believe that the environment is mainly affected from hotel units that are based in natural and sensitive environment, such as islands or mountainous areas. In specific comments such as ‘Our facility is in the city centre of Athens, the environment is nit affected mainly from us, but from hotels that are actually in the natural environment’. With that attitude, it is revealed their ignorance about the carbon footprint that occurs from the energy consumption from their facilities. Furthermore, it is interesting to mention, that despite the perception that green action in hotels plays an important role in defining customers choice, this survey displays that Greek hoteliers do not believe environmental action as significant marketing factor to attract more customers. Following to that, the participants were asked how important they would find the assistance from specialised people or governmental authorised personnel in order to reduce the carbon footprint of their facilities. All of them believe that professional assistance would be very useful and very effective for their energy operations. ‘It would be a way to improve things and also to learn about new technologies and actions that would reduce the effect to the environment’, some of them they declared. However, the most important factor in order to apply new eco-friendly technologies and actions, they need to know about energy costs and energy savings that could occur from these installations. For that purpose an economic assessment is presented later on in this section. A total opinion expressed from all the respondents is that even though they have interest in preventing from affecting the environment in any way, still no one, authorised or governmental representative has ever approached them to inform them about requirements in order to be more environmental friendly. Moreover, they declared that, it is essential to know about policy framework or

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examples from other countries that already have applied similar initiatives. ‘The government needs to inform the hotel owners about this issue, either in each individual hotel or through the National Organisation of Tourism’ some of them stated; also ‘they need to establish some legislative requirements for hotels and tourism sector in general; with that way owners, managers and customers would know what is the problem and what needs to change’. Information on policy and green actions The participants’ response on how aware they are on the energy and environmental policy demonstrated the lack of knowledge on activities that would improve their facilities environmental performance. They declared that the small alterations take place in their hotels, such as replacement of efficient lighting, and use of electrical efficient air-conditions, are information that anyone could have. There is need to offer further information on these issues. They also stated, that even if we do not know we would require someone expert to inform us. ‘After all, hotels support the second most important activity of the Greek economy, therefore we need more attention’, one hotel manager declared from a four-star hotel in Crete. Furthermore, they declared that they would like to be able to inform their employees about more rational use in the hotels; ‘This would save us money’, most of them stated. At this point it is essential to note that this option on information and a possible training of their employees was an option considered only from three out of ten respondents. Under the same frame about information and policy action, Greek hoteliers declared that the government should develop a specific framework that would include specific measures for hotels. ‘A hotel is a complex building; multiple services are offered using multiple types of fuels and equipment’. This statement displays that hotel owners and managers prefer a specific legislative framework that would indicate specific actions to be taken in the hotel industry. Six out of ten hoteliers responded that they would follow a specific legislative framework if it would demonstrate clear action to be taken. In addition, they stated that it is essential to be informed about available technologies they could install. As a final comment of the hoteliers’ opinions, are the only factors that define the implementation of new technologies in their facilities. They are mainly concerned about the total cost of the investments, and the possibility of financial subsidies offered from the government. This obvious statement, with information and knowledge in the proposed technologies are the main factors influencing the hotel owners’ views on changes to their facilities.

5 Conclusions To conclude, this analysis demonstrates that even if there is a quite effective legislative framework, the hoteliers need more than that in order to apply it in their facilities. Even if they have increased environmental awareness and they would like

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to change the way their facilities are operating, still they find necessary to have the appropriate level of information. The efficient lighting and equipment is the most common and the easiest for them to apply. Still many potential technologies and alterations could benefit their facilities. In addition, they consider as appropriate to provide training to their employees in order to promote the rational use of energy. It is essential to note also, that the Greek legislative framework, even if it is quite general, without specified measures for buildings of different sectors, could reduce the energy consumption. However, it is focusing mainly only the electricity consumption, without giving a clear framework about types o f renewable energy technologies that could be applied in buildings with multiple services as hotels. There is need for information to the hoteliers. If they know what exists in the market and they have the appropriate explanation on these issues, they would follow the policy framework, as it would be beneficial for them. Therefore, it is necessary for the Government, to not only publish a policy framework and request from people to apply it, but also to inform them about its potential. Hoteliers had a positive reaction when they had the appropriate information on the existing technologies that could use in their facilities, since they would have reduction in energy consumption, in energy costs and in environmental effects. Hence, it is more important to convince people than posing to them a policy which is unknown to them.

Annex Tables Table 1. Measurements and hypotheses used in BaU scenario Measurements to be implemented by 2020 in hotels

Business as Usual Scenario

Efficient Lighting

-28% electricity reduction in electricity use

Efficient electrical equipment

-5% electricity reduction in electricity use

Natural Gas Penetration

+20% increase of natural gas use

Hypotheses Use of electricity

+1.5% growth of source use

Use of oil

+3.5% growth of fuel use

Hot water and heating services use Source: Ministry of Development, 2007

+3% growth in fuel used for these services

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Measurements to be implemented by 2020 in hotels Efficient lighting

Policy Scenario -12 to 28% reduction of electricity consumption

Electrical efficient equipment in cooking, laun- -15 to -20% reduction of electricity consumpdry facilities, refrigeration and A/C tion by 2020 Solar thermal panels for buildings over 1000m2 10% decrease of energy consumption for heating and hot water Thermal insulation

-5% reduction in energy consumption in heating -5% reduction in electricity consumption

Renewable energy technologies installation

-20 to – 30% reduction in total energy consumption

Information for rational use of energy in the building

-2% reduction of electricity consumption

Energy Management Systems

-5% reduction of electricity consumption

Natural Gas Penetration

+30% increase

Hypotheses Use of electricity

+1.5% growth of source use

Use of oil

+2.5% growth of fuel use

Hot water and heating services use Source: Ministry of Development, 2007

+3% growth in fuel used for these services

References 1st Report on Energy Planning in Greece for the period 2008-2020, Athens, Ministry of Development. Ref Type: Report (2007) Greek National Action Plan for Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction, Ministry of Environment and Public Works (2000-2010) Balaras, C.A., et al.: European residential buildings and empirical assessment of the Hellenic building stock, energy consumption, emissions and potential energy savings. Building and Environment 42(3), 1298–1314 (2007) Bohdanowicz, P.: European hoteliers’ environmental attitudes: Greening the business. Cornell hospitality quarterly 46(2), 188–204 (2005) Bohdanowicz, P., Simanic, B., Martinac, I.: Sustainable Hotels-Environmental Reporting According to Green Globe 21, Green Globes Canada/GEM UK, IHEI BENCHMARK HOTEL and HILTON Environmental Reporting. In: The 2005 World Sustainable Building Conference, Tokyo, September 27, vol. s, pp. 1642–1649 (2005) European Commission. European Directive on the Energy Performance in Buildings, 2002/91/EC, Brussels, European Parliament. Ref Type:Report (2002) European Commission. European Directive for Eco-Design in Products, 2005/32/EC, Brussels, European Parliament. Ref Type: Report (2005)

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European Commission. Action Plan for energy efficiency: Realising the potential. COM, 545, Brussels, European Commision. Ref Type: Report (2006) European Commission. European Directive on End-Use Energy Efficiency and Energy Services,2006/32/EC, Brussels, European Parliament. Ref Type: Report (2007) Ministry of Development. National Action Plan for Energy Efficiency, Athens, Ministry of Development. Ref Type: Report (2008) Ministry of Development. National Allocation Plan. Ministry of Development, Athens. Ref Type: Report (2005) National Action Plan for Energy Efficiency, Athens, Ministry of Development. Ref Type: Report (2008)

The EcoSense Project: An Intelligent Energy Management System with a Wireless Sensor and Actor Network Pedro Díaz1, Teresa Olivares1, Raúl Galindo1, Antonio Ortiz1, Fernando Royo1 and Tomás Clemente2 1

Albacete Research Institute of Informatics, Campus Universitario, 02071 Albacete 2 Professors Centre, Avenida España, 13, 02004, Albacete e-mail: {pedrodiaz,teresa,raul,amanuel,froyo}@dsi.uclm.es, [email protected]

Abstract. Wireless sensor networks provide a new way of working for applications such as indoor monitoring, security or robotics. The Ecosense project aims to monitor all devices consuming energy in an intelligent building. We are developing this project in steps. Firstly, we have deployed a network equipped only with sensors (for temperature, humidity, luminosity, and electrical consumption, as well as presence detectors). Secondly, we will add an upper layer of manager agents (actors) to communicate and negotiate services. Afterwards, we will obtain conclusions about the sensed data and we will then extend a full wireless sensor network to cover the whole building. The network prototype will also be used to test power-and-time efficient protocols developed by us.

1 Introduction Sensor networks have been identified as one of the most promising technologies for the future, mainly due to the wide range of real-world applications that have already been identified for this technology. WSNs have the ability to sample, coordinate and actuate at time scales and network dimensions not previously possible [1]. This ability should enable the deployment of a wide array of interesting applications. Our research group at the Albacete Research Institute of Informatics [2] is actively involved in the study and deployment of this technology for indoor and outdoor monitoring. The Ecosense project has been motivated by the aim of effectively designing and deploying WSNs for monitoring environmental indoor conditions, such as the temperature and humidity in an office space. Also, our project includes the design and the implementation of a control system in a building with a wireless sensor network to monitor the situation of all devices that are consuming energy.

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To start with, the network is working only with sensors, and then, in a second phase, the system will be equipped with actors to permit the disconnection of devices and the sending of advice about controlling consumption. These actors may be agents with capabilities including goal management and task execution. Thus, the objective of the project is to set up a control system in the Albacete Research Institute of Informatics with a wireless sensor network to manage their energy consumption and to help with the decisions about energetic reduction. Sensors may also be used by an upper layer of manager agents. These agents are able to communicate and negotiate services to achieve the required functionality [3]. In this paper we describe the sensor network deployed and, after a data gathering phase, we will install the agents to control the sensors. Collaborating with us is the AGECAM, the regional Energy Agency of Castilla-La Mancha [4].

2 The Ecosense Project Hardware Description We are deploying a smart wireless sensor network in the Institute building, to monitor it and optimize its energy resources. The project is divided into several phases: 1. Deployment of a small wireless sensor network in a room of the building and analysis of the results; 2. Addition of actors to this wireless sensor network in order to improve energy saving and 3. Extensions of the wireless sensor network, to cover the whole building. In terms of building energy saving there are several factors that have to be considered and studied carefully: temperature outdoors and indoors, luminosity, electrical consumption and presence detectors (passive infrared detectors, door and window opening sensors). Another variable considered in this project is the humidity, as it has been demonstrated that a good level of humidity in working areas is healthy for the workers. The main variable in energy control is the temperature, as we have to establish a comfortable temperature for work, and the energy consumed by the air conditioning in cooling the room, or by the heaters, depends to a great extent on this factor. To measure this variable it is not enough to collect data only at one point in the room, we have to deploy several temperature sensors in the room and calculate the average temperature. To optimize energy consumption as much as possible it is very useful to also install a sensor measure the outdoor temperature. In this case we can compare both temperatures. If, for example, outside is colder than inside and we want to cool the room, instead of turning on the air conditioning it is preferable to open the window, reducing in this way the energy consumed by these devices. The device chosen for this task is the embedded system MTM-CM5000-MSP made by Maxfor Technology INC (see fig.1) [5].

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Fig. 1. Maxfor sensor node

Some advantages of this node are the IEEE 802.15.4 compliant wireless sensor network platform, the fact that it also supports TinyOS, has temperature, light and humidity sensors embedded in the main board, and has an expansion connector that allows other sensors and devices to be plugged into it. The sensor network distribution is shown in fig.2

Fig. 2. Sensor network distribution

The outdoor sensor node, (1) in fig.2, is used to measure temperature, humidity and luminosity outside the building. The platform assigned to this task is the same as for indoors (MTM-CM5000-MSP), together with a new solar supply prototype that avoids the use of batteries. This is the device called ATON-II, a prototype developed by us in our laboratory [6]. ATON-II is tied to the MTM-CM5000-MSP through its expansion connector and it manages in a smart way the photovoltaic

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energy adapting the voltage level, filtering noise to avoid node malfunction, and storing the remaining energy in an accumulator in order to be used when the ambient light is not enough to supply ATON-II (see fig.3).

Fig. 3. The ATON II prototype

ATON-II uses a small 7x4cm solar panel and a 50F high-density capacitor as an energy storage device. When the capacitor is fully charged, ATON-II can supply the MTM-CM5000-MSP without light for up to four days. In order to know if the windows are opened or closed there are some sensors that can control this event. These are the sensors labeled as (2) and (3) in fig.2. The device used is a magnetic switch plugged into the Maxfor node through its expansion connector; this switch can interrupt the node, detect the window event and send this event to the main server. To collect more data about temperature, humidity and luminosity at different points in the room, these Maxfor nodes also get data about these variables. In addition, some sensor nodes are responsible for detecting people. These sensors are labeled (4) and (7) in fig.2. Node (4) uses a motion detector based on passive infrared (PIR), and this device is plugged into the Maxfor node and interrupts it, triggering the sending of data to the server of the motion detect event. The sensor labeled (7) in fig.2 can also monitor people´s actions. This control is carried out through the open/close door event. For this task we use the same magnetic switch plugged into the Maxfor node as nodes (2) and (3). It is very important to know if there are people in the room, otherwise the air conditioning or the heaters are using energy that could be saved. Besides energy control in the building, we install some sensors in order to create a safe place of work and control it in terms of security. Along these lines there is one sensor used as a smoke detector. This is the sensor node labeled (5) in fig.2. The device that detects the event of fire or smoke is a commercial one adapted to plug into the sensor node. Like the other sensors, this device is tied through the expansion connector of the node and when it detects the event, the node sends this data to the main server and produces an acoustic signal as an alarm. Finally, in order to measure and monitor the energy consumed, instantaneously, and to perform data collection with energy trends over time, we have to insert a new sensor device. This sensor is placed in the room of the electrical cabinets; in fig.2 this sensor is labeled (8). We have developed a device that can measure this variable without the need to disturb the electrical installation. The principle on which the device is based is the

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magnetic field generated by the wires of the installation. Through the magnetic field and a specific transducer we can obtain a voltage depending on the current through one wire. This device consists of a ferrite core surrounding the specific wire with a magnetic transducer inside it. The connection is shown in fig. 4.

Fig. 4. Connection of the magnetic field sensor

The output from the device has to be managed to adapt the levels of voltage. We have implemented this intermediate stage in order to plug it into the Maxfor sensor node. The nodes making up the Ecosense project, gathering and storing data, are also used as a special platform to create a testbed. This testbed is very important in our laboratory because there are many activities related with the development of energy-efficient protocols. Our power-efficient work methodology integrates different energy-aware network protocols through the principles of cross-layer protocol engineering. We focus on the medium access control and network layers, as the radio device is the most power -consuming device. We have developed an optimal architecture for sensor networks [7] and we need to test the different protocols that operate in this architecture.

3 Our Sensor Testbed Sensor Network testbeds provide a platform network that can be used for real-time analysis and evaluation of a sensor network application. Experimental evaluation through testbeds is a fundamental step in most of the research projects in sensor networks in the main universities of the world. Moreover, testbeds together with a simulation and the later deployment of the hardware and software evaluating a real platform will help us to obtain reliable and innovative sensor network prototypes. Some related projects in this field are the testbeds developed in the following universities: • University of Harvard. Motelab [8] is a wireless sensor network testbed deployed in the Maxwell Dworkin laboratories. This testbed is composed of MicaZ sensor nodes plugged by Ethernet through UTP cable to a central server. This testbed has a web interface to interact with the system and a database system (MySQL server). • Ohio State University. Kansei [9] is a testbed divided into three subsystems: static array, portable array and mobile array. The static array consists of 210 sensor nodes deployed in a square platform separated by 75 cm.

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• As sensor nodes, the Extreme Escala Motes (XSMs) are used. • University of Harvard BBN Technologies. Citysense [10] is a testbed composed of more than 100 wireless sensors deployed around the city on streetlight posts, and private and public buildings. Each node is composed of a computer with a WIFI interface. The sensors monitor environmental variables and atmospheric pollution. As a result, this is an example of how a testbed can be deployed that covers a whole city and which is not focused on a laboratory or research center. In the last few years, in our laboratory we have tested the sensor network protocols through simulators and emulators. After testing we implement these applications and protocols in real sensor networks such as IntellBuilding [11] and WiseVine[12]. In these real sensor networks we have the problem of the power supply, and we lose data packets and so we cannot make a reliable study of our protocols because the final results are affected. As a result theI3ASensorBed was born. We needed a real cabled sensor node platform in order to test our applications and protocols easily, without the problem of power supply. The architecture of our system is organized in a tree. This tree form has three levels; each level is interconnected via different technologies. On the one side, there are the sensor nodes MTM-CM5000-MSP (they are the final devices or the leaf) tied through USB cables to special nodes called super nodes. Finally, as root of the tree there is a central server to which the super nodes are connected through an Ethernet network. The use of these super nodes is due to USB standard restrictions. If we use only USB connections, the maximum number of nodes will be 127 and with a distance of 30m between nodes. For this reason we need a change between the USB environment to the Ethernet one with UTP cable and RJ45 connections because these kinds of networks are cheap and accessible. There are some devices on the market that can connect USB massive storage devices through an Ethernet network, but our sensor nodes, although they have USB connectors, are not like storage devices and we need to modify some factors in the firmware. For this reason we have to find a new solution. As a consequence, we use a specific device by Linksys, the Network Storage Link for USB2.0 (NSLU2). This device has firmware based on the Linux O.S. and consequently the source code is released by Linksys. It has permitted us to modify the firmware and install a full version of Linux for embedded devices (Debian version). Thus, we have a full computer with Ethernet connections and USB ports for a small cost (less than 100€ € ). NSLU2 has an Ethernet port and two USB ports, shown in fig.5, right. This device uses an Intel IXP420 processor of the XScale family, and runs at 133Mhz. It has 32 MB of SDRAM and 8 MB of flash memory.

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Fig. 5. (left) Linksys Network Storage Link for USB2.0, NSLU2, (right) Partial view of room

In the environment of each layer of the tree architecture there can exist other intermediate devices, so between the node layer and the super node layer USB hubs can be deployed in order to connect more USB nodes into the same super node. Furthermore, between the super node layer and the server there exists an Ethernet switch in order to connect several super nodes to the central server. Fig 6 shows the complete tree architecture of the I3ASensorBed.

Fig. 6. Tree architecture of the I3ASensorBed

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The device used as USB hub is the USB2HUB4 by Linksys. It is very useful in our application because we can turn on or turn off the sensor nodes in order to test the network application in a better way. Lastly, we have the central server. This element will control all the system, interacting directly with the super nodes through the Ethernet connection of the testbed. This machine offers the necessary network services for the correct working of the super nodes in the testbed: DHCP, DNS, NTP and NFS. The server will offer a database to store the testbed information. The data-base motor is based on PostgreSQL because it is a robust, stable and free code. Another function of the server is to send scripts through the ssh connection to the super nodes in order to interact with the sensor nodes. The interaction with the user is by means of a web interface; so this machine will be a web server too (see figure 7). Through the web interface the final user can program, reset, turn on or turn off and activate the serial forwarder in a specific node or a group of nodes chosen by the user. In order to implement this interface we use a work environment based on Python and Python Twisted Tools.

Fig. 7. I3ASensorBed web interface

4 Conclusions and Future work We have set up a cabled and controlled network in an indoor environment. This network will help us to monitor all important parameters for making an energy study. We wish to obtain categorical conclusions about energy efficiency in our

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building, and after this, to take actions to improve the consumption and working environment. However, this network is not a simple and experimental macroscope of our building, but this network will also be used as a testbed to evaluate the protocols designed by our group. We hope that this experience will be a good opportunity to improve the energy consumption in buildings, turning these into sustainable environments. After the preliminary data, we can extend and clone this network prototype to other rooms of the Institute and to other buildings on the campus. Acknowledgments. This work was supported by the Spanish MEC and MICINN, as well as European Commission FEDER funds, under Grants CSD2006-00046, TIN2009-14475C04. It was also partly supported by Regional Council under Grant PBI08-0273-7562.

References [1] Intelligent Building Group, http://www.ibgroup.org.uk [2] The Albacete Research Institute of Informatics, http://ww.i3a.uclm.es [3] Fuentes, R., Guijarro, M., Pajares, G.: A Multi-agent System Architecture for Sensor Networks. Sensors 9(12), 10244–10269 (2009), doi:10.3390/s91210244 [4] Regional Energy Agency, Castilla-La Mancha, http://www.agecam.es [5] Product Info, http://www.maxfor.co.kr/eng/en_sub5_1_1.html [6] Díaz, P., Olivares, T., Orozco-Barbosa, L.: ATON, A battery-less power supply with dynamic duty cycle for wireless sensor networks. In: Infocom 2009 Demos (2009), http://www.ieee-infocom.org/2009/demos.htm [7] Ortiz, A.M., Olivares, T., Royo, F., Díaz, P., Orozco-Barbosa, L.: A cross-layer integration prototype for wireless sensor networks. In: Sigcomm 2009 Posters (2009) [8] Motelab testbed, http://motelab.eecs.hardward.edu [9] Kansei testbed, http://cqast.cse.haio.edu/kansei [10] CitySense testbed, http://www.citysense.net/ [11] Olivares, T., Tirado, P.J., Royo, F., Castillo, J.C., Orozoco-Barbosa, L.: IntellBuilding: A wireless sensor network for intelligent buildings. In: Proceedings of EWSN (2007) [12] Olivares, T., Orozoco-Barbosa, L., Lópezy, V., Pedrón, P.: WISEVINE: Wireless Sensor Networks applied to Vineyards. In: Proceedings of the ACM REALWSN 2006 (2006)

The Use of Intelligent Systems for Monitoring Energy Use and Occupancy in Existing Homes Catalina Spataru* and Mark Gillott Institute of Sustainable Energy Technology, Department of Architecture and Built Environment, Faculty of Engineering, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK, NG7 2RD e-mail: [email protected]

Abstract. In the UK the existing domestic building stock accounts for 30 % of the total carbon dioxide emissions [Domestic energy fact file, BRE, 2008]. The UK Government has set ambitious targets for reducing UK carbon dioxide emissions by 80% by 2050. These targets will require significant changes to the existing buildings. To understand and quantify the benefits of refurbishment solutions, it is vital to monitor exemplar buildings and to bring them to an energy efficiency standard with lower associated carbon emissions, by finding the most efficient way to refurbish them. A 1930’s replica three bed semi-detached house analyzed in this study is located in the University of Nottingham campus and is fully monitored, including monitoring of the occupants patterns, environmental monitoring, electricity use and energy associated with space and hot water heating. This paper analyses techniques used for tracking computing technologies in everyday domestic settings. A Real Time Occupancy Monitoring System using ultra wideband (UW) radio frequency (RF) is used in this study to track person’s location within the research house. The results presented in this paper shows that energy consumption profiles are related to the occupants and their profiles. The data also depends on the outside weather conditions and occupants’ behaviour. The study shows that it is not enough just to improve building performance in order to improve energy efficiency; it is also important to understand and influence occupant behaviour, due to the fact that in domestic buildings the occupants exert complete control of the appliances, lights, heating, and ventilation. The results of this study suggest that general behavioural trends and patterns can be extracted from longterm collected data. This systematic study could benefit the existing housing stock in the UK by applying the same methods used in the research house. Keywords: Energy Efficient Dwellings, Post-occupancy Evaluation (POE), Occupants Behaviour; Building Performance.

1 Introduction The threat of climate change due to the increase in greenhouse gas emissions has led to a worldwide concern. According to the ‘Fourth Assessment Report’ of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPPC), the primary causes in climate *

Corresponding author.

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change are due to human activities. Many studies state that the energy usage depends on the occupant behaviour, but very little research shows clearly how the consumption and occupant behaviour are related each other. There is an urgent need to implement methods in order to determine the occupants’ interaction behaviour with available domestic technology, such as heating system, electrical equipment, lights and to come with solutions in order to reduce the energy use in the existing homes. The objective of this study is to investigate and develop a novel POE methodology and software that integrates energy use, environment data and occupancy in one package. The necessity of such software is to analyze and reduce excessive energy consumption and high energy cost due to occupants energy usage behaviour. Besides implementation of various technologies in improving buildings, there is also a need to determine the occupants’ behaviour and the energy consumption depending upon the number of occupants. The data will enable us to determine the carbon footprints of individuals within the house by linking their whereabouts to the household energy consumed, during different stages of house being refurbished.

2 Systems for People Tracking and Activity Recognition Tracking people, their activity and location, as well as objects within buildings is a process applied by many researchers in various fields, such as pervasive computing, multimedia processing, and computer vision. Many studies suggested that using occupancy sensors good measured data performance and savings of 25%-75% in variety of spaces can be obtained [3]. A variety of methods for existing tracking technology in the ubiquitous computing area have been developed, including wristbands, radio frequencies, Wi-Fi technology, GSM technology, and GPS. The system based power line network [2] uses switches and motion sensors (detectors) to track indoor human activities. The system provides reliable data and easy to be processed, but it cannot provide detailed information, because a motion sensor can say if there is or not a person present in monitored area. It can’t provide any data about the exact location of the person. Koile et al. [6] proposed a computer vision system to monitor the person location and the moving trajectory. Aggarwal et al. [1] has reviewed 2D and 3D methods for human motion tracking and human activity recognition. Many systems using sensing technologies such as Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) are available on the market, being very efficient and reliable in collecting data. An RFID system is an automatic system that uses radio waves to capture information from tags. RFID system is used in various fields (health, pharma, manufacturing, defense, energy, aviation) for real-time localisation/positioning and identification of objects and components, providing accurate location information. One of the first users of RFID for researching occupancy patterns in domestic buildings was the research done by Gillott et al. [4]. Over the time, researchers have tried to improve the accuracy and precision, improving the sensing hardware by minimizing the size.

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3 The Case Study Considered – The E.ON 2016 Research House A semi-detached house (Figure 1) was built in the University of Nottingham’ campus to 1930s building standard, being representative of several homes which still exists in UK. This project will provide scientific data to verify current retrofit technologies to upgrade existing homes, by developing innovative solutions for improving energy performance and assess cost effective measures for reducing carbon emissions from age’s buildings and potentially applied to similar proprieties across the UK.

Fig. 1. The E.ON 2016 Research House on the University Site Campus

The house is occupied by a family (mother, father and a daughter). Comprehensive equipment is used for measuring electricity, water and gas consumption, environmental measuring and occupants’ patterns, to assess the performance of a typical 1930s house and the upgrades to different levels of sustainability [5]. A range of sensors, such as temperature, black bulb temperature, air quality, humidity were placed across the house in different locations: walls, floors and ceilings. The loft space is a research laboratory with access provided through the ‘service zone’ to the party wall side of the house (where data are collected), simulating the environmental performance of an adjacent property, keeping the party wall warm. All the measurements from the BSM system are recorded in the central control panel and are accessed through a 963 Supervisor software v.2 (provided by Horizons Control) on a pc located in the loft space. The data logging equipment is a graphical real-time user interface for the building control system, providing acceptable accuracy, but a limited storage capacity, being able to host on a page a maximum of 100 sensors [10]. The quantitative data are logged continuously and periodically collected in .*txt files and will be used as a benchmark for the energy performances for UK houses. The data can be seen also on the internet through a

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wireless ZigBee, an area network technology based on IEEE 802.15.4 - 2006 standard, with a transmission range of 100+ meters, which consume very little power [12].

4 Real-Time Occupancy Monitoring System Used Technology used in this work includes an ultra wideband radio (UWB) radio frequency (RF) location system (supplied by UBISENSE) to track and monitor the occupants and space use [11]. It is the first time that this version has been used for an application in a domestic property. With a high positional accuracy and reliability, the system is used to track patterns of space usage in the house for real time and location, by determining their ‘real-time’ occupancy patterns. A number of sensors were placed strategically around the house and pointed towards the floor so that to be able to detect a robust localization of the worn tag by the person within a relatively high accuracy (Figure 2).

DOWNSTAIRS

UPSTAIRS

Fig. 2. Schematic Map of Sensors Location in the E.ON 2016 Research House

Each sensor network cable has been connected to an ethernet switch. For the occupants, the devices used are active Ultra-High Frequency (UHF) Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags. Following steps of the process were done: install mounting brackets for sensors and cabling, mount sensors, connect network data cables and timing cables to the sensors, connect power supplies, calibrate and test the occupancy sensors in the test house. Then upload the plan of the house and locate the sensors on it. The tag details were introduced in the system and the settings done. Once that was done, the zones and sub-zones were defined and the necessary monitoring settings by creating roles and associate shapes to them, so that a detailed map of occupants’ actions can be determined. Figure 3 shows the sub-zones created in the Living Room Zone. For each zone in the house were created subzones, so that to determine a detail map of occupants’ pattern.

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Fig. 3. Sub-Zones defined in the Living Room Zone

Using Microsoft Visual Studio 2005, a C# application in the host computer was created to place all the tags in a list view, to obtain the location data for any particular tag (person location and person description) and to monitor the spatial relationship. The GUI aspect of the form was design using labels and buttons. A monitor Schema was created in order to query current relationships between objects. Another schema was created to query the names of the tags (persons) and the role relationships for this particular situation. When a person or object with an assigned tag moves in the close proximity of the sensors, the ID of the tag is detected by the sensors and the tag reader send the data in the system, where it is translated and combined with a set of pre-stored data parameters. There, based on the user’ request, the system detects information about the tag ID and person identity. The information about occupants’ location actions of the occupants are logged by the reader program to a .*csv file (a comma separated file).

5 A Post Occupancy Evaluation Tool - Data Processing and Evaluation A key aspect in our study is the data process. The *csv files with the occupants data obtained with the Ubisense system and the .*txt files with the quantitative indoor measurements are transported and sorted in a database, created using Microsoft Access 2007, capable to store information about environmental parameters, energy consumption and occupancy (IN/OUT status from a particular space and (X,Y) location). Computer interface software has been developed, capable to store methods to retrieve information and access the data from the database by processing it further. The program code written in Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 was made up of a number of event procedures, so that it can perform an action or a series of actions. The GUI-aspect of the form, including check boxes and buttons was designed, so that it can perform actions by accessing the database easily. A schematic diagram of the entire POE process that integrates energy use, environment data and occupancy is shown in Figure 4.

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Platform Server

DHCP Server

Visual Basic 6.0 Computer Interface

.*csv file

Ethernet Switch Microsoft Visual C#

Person wearing the tag

Platform Server

Electric circuits

Data Filtering Database Using Microsoft Access

GUI aspect of the form Code Design OnLoad Event

Sensors positioned around the house

Weather Station Ethernet Switch .*txt file

Environmental sensors

.*txt file

Water Meter Reports and Graphs generate from the application

Gas Meter

Sensors and Meters

BSM System

Central Control Panel

Fig. 4. A Schematic Diagram of the POE Process

The computer interface software developed will enable the researchers to analyze the data efficiently and in a short period time and large data sets can easily be accessed. The input data were categorized in: parameters (sensors), persons (occupants), cells (zones considered in the house). The interface software can provide breakdown domestic energy consumption and environmental, occupancy profiles and the relations between them for any specific period. This is an essential part in the POE study, because it provides accurate data that will enable us to determine the carbon footprints of individuals within the house by linking their whereabouts to the household energy consumed, during different stages of house being refurbished. Detailed occupancy data is often the one unknown variable even in the most comprehensive POE studies. In order to provide detail information, it is necessary to take into account the following factors: number of occupants and daily presence time, if they are active or asleep, duration of lighting in each room, real indoor temperature, type and use of appliances. Identification of zones within the house is important to know where each person is located. From the information collected, it can be determined where the energy is consumed in excess. The patterns of time spent in particular spaces depend by the number of person present in the house. Figure 5 shows the number of active occupants over 24 hours. These patterns could vary over the course of each day.

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Fig. 5. Number of Active Occupants during 24 hours

In order to see how much these patterns vary, the occupants are monitored in each season during the year. From real data can be calculated the occupant density. It is vital to know the occupancy pattern in order to determine how the space is used, where the energy is waste and how it can be reduced. Figure 6 shows the patterns of space usage of an occupant (father) during 24 hours.

Fig. 6. Patterns of Space Usage of an Occupant during 24 hours

The amount of gas usage is related to the outside temperature and occupants presence in the dwelling (Figure 7). Once the outside temperature is low, the gas consumption increase so that the temperature inside stay almost constant during

Fig. 7. Environmental Conditions vs. Energy Consumption Schedule during 24 hours

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the 24 hours. When the inside temperature drops, the central heating system is used and an increase in temperature was observed. Therefore, as expected colder temperatures lead to higher energy use. Relations between electricity consumptions and occupants’ patterns were determined (Figure 8), by supporting the previous studies which states that the electricity demand is affected by occupants’ behaviour [7, 8, 9].

Fig. 8. Occupants’ Pattern vs. Electricity Schedule in Dining Room Zone

The interface software can generate also graphs for any period of time chosen. Figure 9 shows the occupants’ pattern and temperature for a week. Indoor temperatures for the period selected varies fairly constant. It was observed that behavioral actions affect the electricity and gas consumption in the house.

Fig. 9. Occupants’ Pattern vs. Temperature

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The computer interface software is capable of generating a series of graphs, for any interval of time with various combinations for selected parameters: pie charts showing percentage of electricity and gas consumption and occupancy per zone, bar charts by comparing the time spent for certain periods of time (work days and rest days), bar charts showing the consumption for different periods of time during a day and occupancy mapping for time and location density. Occupant patterns are valuable in making a decision regarding thermal comfort in the house before and after each phase of refurbishment. These data can provide information, such as occupant density and can help in finding solutions of reducing electricity and gas consumption.

6 Discussion and Conclusions The results indicated that the interface software developed is very computationally efficient, being able to generate a series of information in various forms. It is only necessary to choose the desired parameters, persons and type of graph. Large quantities of data can be stored in the database and accessed through the interface software developed. It has been proven that the system supplied by Ubisense is able to locate and track occupant location with a high degree of accuracy. Our results indicated that it is possible to build a tool, able to combine the person location data with environmental and energy consumption data. Using this certain method great information can be obtained and rich conclusions can be drawn. Being a complex study with an enormous data, there is necessary to have a tool able to respond to the changes. In general a Post Occupancy evaluation study can have a key role in minimizing energy consumption and helping to bring the existing homes to zero carbon targets. Previous work has shown that there is a relation between occupants’ behaviour and energy consumed in a household. This fact become over the time increasingly important as it can answer to the question rose by many researchers Can a zero carbon home really be “zero carbon” if it has energy wasteful occupants? It is therefore essential to determine in detail the occupants’ patterns and their respond and behaviour. Further investigation into the data is necessary to highlight with precision trends for same periods of time, but in different stages of refurbishment. The method constructed for this house, can be extended to multiple houses. The real-time data accumulated over the time can be used to develop a tool able to predict possible savings in different types of houses with different number of occupants and in various type of climate. The POE work goal was to explore integration of indoor climate, perception and behaviour of occupants and energy performance in one system, allowing results obtained to be combined. Patterns of occupants in a building is of high importance in simulating the behaviour of occupants within a building and their effects on the buildings’ demands for resources such as electricity, gas or water, as well as the production of waste.

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Acknowledgements. The authors wish to acknowledge the support of the Research Council UK Energy Programme and EO.N (UK) who funded this work as part of a wider research project called Consumer Appealing Low Energy Technologies for Building Retrofit (CALEBRE).

References 1. Aggarwal, J.K., Cai, Q.: Human Motion Analysis: A Review. Computer Vision and Image Understanding 73, 428–440 (1999) 2. Brumitt, B., Krumm, J., Meyers, B., Shafer, S.: Ubiquitous computing and the role of geometry. IEEE Personal Communications in Special Issue on Smart Spaces and Environments 7-5, 41–43 (2000) 3. Cordes, J.J.: Socio-economic perspective on household saving be-haviour. The Journal of Behavioual Economics 19(3), 273–284 (1990) 4. Gillott, M.C., Holland, R., Riffat, S.B., Fitchett, J.A.: Post-Occupancy Evaluation of Space Use in a Dwelling Using RFID Tracking. Architectural Engineering and Design Management 2(4), 273–288 (2006) 5. Gillott, M., Spataru, C.: Book Chapter: Best practice in the refurbishment of existing buildings. In: Hall, M.R. (ed.) Materials for Energy Efficiency & Thermal Comfort in Buildings, Woodhead Publishing Limited, Cambridge (2010) 6. Koile, K., Tollmar, K., Demirdjian, D., Shrobe, H.E., Darrell, T.: Activity Zones for Context-Aware Computing. In: Dey, A.K., Schmidt, A., McCarthy, J.F. (eds.) UbiComp 2003. LNCS, vol. 2864, pp. 90–106. Springer, Heidelberg (2003) 7. Moore, F.: Environmental Control Systems. McGraw-Hill, New York (1993) 8. Seligman, C., Darley, J.M., Becker, L.: Behavioural approached to residential energy conservation. Energy and Buildings 1, 325–337 (1977) 9. Toftum, J., Andersen, R., Jensen, K.: Occupant performance and building energy consumption with different philosophies of determining acceptable thermal conditions. Building and Environment 44, 2009–2016 (2009) 10. Trend 963, Engineering Manual, Issue 3 (2008) 11. Ubisense Manual (2007) 12. http://www.zigbee.com (accessed December 2009)

Assessing the Energy Performance of Office Buildings Chr. Konstantinidou, A. Dimoudi, and P. Kosmopoulos Department of Environmental Engineering, Democritus University of Thrace, Vass. Sofias 12, 67 100 Xanthi, Greece e-mail: [email protected]

Abstract. The production and use of energy are the cause for the 94% of CO2 emissions, with an important share, at least 45%, corresponding at the building sector. Buildings are accounting for the 40% of energy consumption in Europe, while the increase of demand of electric energy is forecasted to reach up to 42% at 2020. Greek buildings absorb roughly the 1/3 of consumed energy and emit the 45% of CO2. Particularly, the tertiary sector represents roughly the 25% of total number of Greek buildings. The category of offices/commercial buildings constitutes the higher percentage between the main categories of tertiary sector and it represents the 2.74% of total building reserve, that corresponds at a total energy consumption equal to 339 kWh/m2. In this paper, the energy behaviour of public buildings is studied. The energy situation of public office buildings in the prefecture of Florina, in North Greece is investigated. The paper demonstrates the energy assessment of office buildings and it formulates proposals for the improvement of their energy efficiency. The evaluation of the existing energy situation and the proposed energy interventions was performed with the EPA-NR software, The parameters that were taken into account were the constructional data of the buildings, the data on the operation of the buildings, energy consumption and the exterior climatic local conditions.

1 Introduction The production and use of energy are the cause for the 94% of CO2 emissions, with an important share, at least 45%, corresponding in the building sector. Buildings are accounting for the 40% of energy consumption in Europe, while the increase of demand of electric energy is forecasted to reach up to 42% at 2020 [1]. Greek buildings account for about the 1/3 of consumed energy and emit the 45% of CO2 [2]. Particularly, the tertiary sector represents approximately the 25% of the total number of Greek buildings. The category of offices/commercial buildings constitutes the higher percentage between the main categories of tertiary sector and it represents the 2.74% of total building reserve that corresponds at total energy consumption equal to 339 kWh/m2 [3]. According to a study on the energy behavior of public office buildings in the Prefecture of Florina [4], the average total specific energy consumption of public R.J. Howlett, L.C. Jain, & S.H. Lee (Eds.): Sustainability in Energy and Buildings, SIST 7, pp. 257–264. springerlink.com © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2011

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buildings of the Prefecture of Florina amounts in 164.56 kWh/m2, with an average thermal energy equal to 139.08 kWh/m2 and average electric energy equal to 25.47 kWh/m2. This means that the thermal energy constitutes the 84% and the electric only the 15% of the total energy consumed in this building category.

2 Assessment of the Energy Performance of Buildings and Energy Interventions The aim of this work was the assessment of the existing condition of office buildings in the public sector in this region and investigation of possible energy interventions in order to improve their energy performance and indoor thermal conditions. Simulations were performed for representative public offices in the area with the use of the software ‘EPA-NR’ 2.1 Investigated Public Buildings in Florina The region that was selected for the study is the prefecture of Florina, in north Greece. It is among the coldest regions of Greece and according to the existing Thermal Insulation Regulation belongs to the C’ climatic region, where the buildings have very small cooling needs and very high needs for heating (according to the draft Law ‘Energy Regulation for Buildings’, the coldest areas of Greece, like the prefecture of Florina, will belong to the D’ climatic zones). The dominant characteristics of the climate of the studied region are the cold winters with particularly low temperatures, snowfalls and frequent rainfalls. On the contrary, the summer period is characterized by high temperatures during the day, where they are progressively decreased while the night falls. According to the climatic data of the National Meteorological Service, the annual average temperature is 11.1 oC, with average minimum temperature equal to 0.8 oC and average maximum temperature 21.0 oC. The rain height is in high levels and ranges from 33.9 mm in August to 71.,3 mm in October. The annual average height of rainfalls is 643.4 mm. The air relative humidity is also high, ranging from 66.1% in July to 92.1% in December, with an annual average of 76.9%. The winds are usually cold with northern direction. The annual average speed of winds is 0.6 m/s. Three office buildings that accommodate public services were selected and simulated with the software “EPA-NR” An effort was made to select neoclassic buildings, for which data on their energy performance were available and they were presenting a potential for energy upgrade. The selected buildings were constructed between 1880 and 1910. Buildings 1 and 3 accommodate only offices; while in building 2 courses of education of adults also take place. Consequently, the buildings 1 and 3 operate from 7:30 a.m. to 15:00 p.m., while the building 2 operates from 7:30 a.m. to 22:00 p.m. All the buildings are located on the main road of the city, in distance of two building squares. They have north orientation and their main facade faces the main street that is characterized by dense layout. Their south side faces the river Sakolebas, which crosses the city of Florina. In all buildings some repairs were made years ago, mainly on the building fabric, like change of windows, and strengthening of their support capacity. Regarding the electromechanical installations, replacement of the boiler was the usual intervention.

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The building 1 has wooden exterior window frames and shutters and the floor is made of marble. The total area of the building is 1,383.87 m2, with the surface of basement equal to 460.11 m2, the ground floor equal to 461.88 m2 and the first floor 461.88 m2. The total heated area is 1,383.87 m2, including the surface of the basement. Respectively, the total volume of the building is 5,721.13 m3, with the basement equal to 1,610.39 m3 and a typical floor 2,055.37 m3. The building 2 has, also, wooden exterior window frames and shutters and the floor is covered by marble in the corridors and the staircase, while the floor in the rooms is wooden. The total area of building is 676.8 m2, with area of formal floor equal to 169.2 m2. The total surface of heated area is 507.6 m2. The total volume of the building is 2,030.,4 m3, with volume of a typical floor equal to 507.6 m3. Finally, the building 3 has wooden exterior frames and the floor is covered by marble. The total area of the building is 646.49 m2, with the area of basement equal to 218.82 m2, of the ground floor equal to 212.58 m2 and the first floor 215.09 m2. The total surface of heated area is 646.49 m2, including the surface of basement. Respectively, the total volume of the building is 2,089.47 m3, with the volume of basement 645.52 m3, ground floor 669.63 m3 and first floor 774.32 m3. 2.2 Proposed Energy Interventions The energy evaluation of buildings was achieved with use of the software EPANR [5, 6]. The “EPA-NR” is a methodology and computational software, which was developed in the frame of the programme “Intelligent Energy Europe” of the 17th D.G. of the European Committee, for the evaluation of the energy efficiency in existing buildings of the tertiary sector. It includes calculating tools for estimation of the energy consumption and savings for heating and cooling of the building, heating of domestic water and artificial lighting of the building. In all office buildings that were studied in the prefecture of Florina the energy needs should be decreased in order to improve their energy behavior. Aiming at energy savings, various energy interventions were proposed for the energy upgrade of these buildings. In particular, interventions to be applied at the shell of each building were investigated. The building’s shell constitutes by the exterior walls, the floor, the roof, the frames of openings and the glass panes, all of them influencing the thermal behavior of the shell. Thus, the interventions concern the insulation of these elements and the airtightness of their openings. Thus the interventions that were investigated in each building are the following ones: • Replacement of the single glazed windows with double glass panes with distance 4cm